Sage of the Seventh Path
by Xahn777
Summary: Most people would have called it "The Worst Day Of Their Lives". But to Naruto It's The start of something wonderful. After all, what's good doesn't have to be pleasant and once you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up, right? Watch as one bad day...saves the world. Naru/Hina. Minor AU Chapters 1-14 31-33 BETA'd
1. Prologue: The Search For Tsunade

**A/N: This story's plot will be mostly canon up until the search for Tsunade arc and begins in media res at the point where the major divergence begins. The next chapter will be the beginning of the story proper and will be interspersed with flashes to the present as Jiraiya recounts the tale (in a similar style to "THE KINGKILLER CHRONICLES" by Patrick Rothfuss) The Parings will be Naru/Hina, Jiraiya/Tsunade, possible Sasu/Saku, and other as of yet undecided parings. Expect Strong!Naruto, Angry!Jiraiya Reluctant!Tsunade Grey!Orochimaru, and Evil!Danzo**

**A/N 3.0 Beta'd by TheCookieMonster77**

**And Before I Forget I Don't Own Naruto some Japanese Guy That wont Share Does… (Kishimoto Masashi)**

**Prologue: The Search For Tsunade**

In a gloomy, dark bar in Tanzaku town, Tsunade, The Last of the Senju, was celebrating. She had won so much money today at the gambling halls, that not only could she actually pay off her gambling debts, much to Shizune's pleasure; but she still had enough left over to drink herself silly, much to Shizune's current displeasure.

"Tsunade-hime we really should go, I have a bad feeling about this." Shizune pleaded while trying to pull the mildly inebriated woman away from her sake.

"C'mon, Shizune-chan, let me have a little fun. I haven't won this much in ages!" Tsunade was gripping the table top so tightly that her fingers had accidently cracked the wood. As she was chugging sake, she paused to think about what had happened the last time she won big. "Well, not since before Nawa… oh… Crap!" Tsunade suddenly cried, "Why didn't you say something earlier? We have to leave before something terrible happens!"

As Tsunade tried to stagger upright, a new voice called from the shadows behind her, "I'm afraid you're too late for that, Hime," the newcomer said as he pushed Tsunade back into her chair. The stranger stepped into the light, revealing a large man easily a foot taller than Tsunade with his wooden geta, even taller if you counted his wild, spiky white hair, which he kept out of his face with a hitai-ate embossed with the kanji for oil. He was Jiraiya, the Gama-Sennin, and most unusually, his face showed barely contained rage.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing? Let me go immediately!" Tsunade struggled to rise from her chair but the enormous amount of sake she had drunk prevented her from actually standing.

"I'm sorry Hime, but I need you to return to Konoha. Sensei's in a coma and my apprentice is on deaths door, only you can save them now." Jiraiya was now in front of Tsunade, blocking her path to the door, with his arms crossed over his chest and a fearsome scowl on his face.

"Your apprentice and Sensei? I don't care, Konoha doesn't deserve…"

Before Tsunade could finished her sentence Jiraiya slammed his fists onto the table causing the sake jugs to jump into the air, some breaking when they landed on the table, others rattling off the table and shattering on the floor. "**_KONOHA CAN BURN_**!" It came out as a snarl, Jiraiya had lost what little control he had, his face twisted into a fearsome visage of hate and anger, his eyes glowing with rage. Startled by his sudden fury and apparent hate for a place he had always protected from the shadows, Tsunade fell backwards over her chair in her haste to escape.

"Jiraiya…what happened to you?" she whispered. Behind Jiraiya she saw the patrons of the bar running for their lives, leaving her alone to deal with the pissed of Sannin.

"This year Konoha hosted the Chunin exams, Tsunade," Jiraiya's cold tone and the lack of his usual 'Hime' made her flinch, "Four days ago, during the third test, Suna and Oto invaded Konoha. They were led by Orochimaru-teme, and during the fight Sensei was trapped in a barrier with the teme while my apprentice was lured away to fight the Sabaku no Gaara Jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku and Suna. My apprentice won but was injured during the fight."

As Jiraiya paused for breath Tsunade stood and sat back in her chair. "And Sensei? How did he end up in a coma?" Tsunade asked, curious, while stalling for time to try to figure a way to escape from her current predicament.

"I was getting to that. See, my apprentice saw the barrier go up before his fight with the Ichibi, and when it was over he rushed back to the arena without stopping to rest or even bandage his wounds." At these words Tsunade stopped to wonder just who this mysterious apprentice was, who was so reckless and foolish to go from one life-or-death struggle to another while possibly bleeding to death, without even trying to stop the bleeding. "Fortunately he made it to the barrier in time to see the beginnings of the suicide jutsu Sensei was using. He managed to do… something… to disrupt barrier, and get inside. He saved Sensei's life, but Sensei fell into a coma, probably because of the jutsu."

"What about your apprentice? Were his injuries from the Ichibi really so bad that you need me?" Tsunade doubted that it was a simple as that.

"No. Actually, during his medical scan the medics found several deep tissue seals that are interfering with his recovery. I can't remove them until he's healed but the surgeons claim they can't help him until I remove the seals."

"Deep tissue seals? How long were they there for, to prevent the medics from healing him? I mean they'd have to be there for years to affect someone that much." A frown creased Tsunade's brow, as she stopped to ponder for a moment. "Just how old is your student? I thought at first that you might be training Kakashi, but the seals would definitely have been noticed during his time in the Anbu. But, I can't think of anyone else you'd want to train."

Lost deep in thought she almost didn't hear Jiraiya clear his throat and continue, "He's twelve almost thirteen…"

Before he could continue Tsunade cut in, "Why are you training the last of the Uchiha? I thought you hated training so-called geniuses?"

"I am not training that Kami-forsaken spoiled brat. And if you'd have let me finish my sentence you would have realized that the last person he could be is Uchiha Sasuke." Jiraiya cut in with a grumble, "As I was saying, I'm not sure if the surgeons are telling me the truth about not being able to treat him before I remove the seals, and after the third attempted poisoning in his meals I was tempted to raze the hospital and take him with me to get you."

Tsunade was startled by the news that doctors and nurses in the Konoha Hospital would try to kill someone who apparently saved them from a rampaging monster, as well as a giant tanuki. "And you just left him there? Even after all those assassination attempts?" That someone could actually leave someone they claimed to be trying to save in such a situation caused a look of disbelief to spread across Tsunade's face.

"Actually I left Kakashi, Asuma and a squad of Anbu guarding him. Kakashi is his Jonin-sensei and Asuma is Sensei's son so he should be safe until I get you back home tomorrow."

"What makes you think I'm coming back?" Tsunade shouted at Jiraiya. "I hate Konoha and I never want to see it again, nothing is worth going there again!"

Before she could build up steam for her rant Jiraiya held up a hand, "Listen up, **_SENJU_**," Jiraiya growled at Tsunade, dropping all pretenses and showing just how pissed off he really was. "Danzo and the civilian council have already tried to order his execution **THREE** times since the battle, once every council meeting, and the only reason it hasn't happened already is the fact that the Shinobi Council is either terrified of what Sensei will do to them if they let the motion pass, or are trying to pay Naruto back for saving their asses. Danzo has already petitioned the council to make him Hokage. If he does get elected then not only will he abduct and brainwash my apprentice and add him to the ranks of ROOT, but in less than a year The Fourth Great Shinobi War will start because of the fool's obsession with war in the name of 'peace'."

So shocked by the use of her last name, Tsunade didn't even notice that Jiraiya let slip his apprentice's name. "What do you expect me to do? Become Hokage? Because only fools want to become Hokage, and I have no intention of dying for Konoha, especially after what you told me!" She was standing up now too, fists clenched at her side, her face red with anger instead of with drink. Even years out of practice, Tsunade angry was a sight to behold.

"Then you better hope that you can heal Sensei because if anything happens to Naruto, anything at all, I will personally hunt you down and kill you with my own two hands!" The killing intent Jiraiya radiated was so intense that Shizune was on the floor gasping for breath, and even Tsunade had fallen to her knees.

'_Jiraiya what happened to you?'_ Tsunade thought as tears began to fall from her eyes _'Didn't you say you loved me? What could have happened to make you so cruel?'_ Jiraiya seemed to loom larger and larger over her, the light grew dim and soon all she could see was his silhouette, his eyes glowing in the dark. Then something clicked in her mind '_Did he say Naruto was his apprentice? That cannot be a common name…does he mean…'_ As the light grew dim she managed to cough out, "Did you say Naruto?"

And as suddenly as it came the killing intent was gone, the lights back to normal and Jiraiya's face suddenly creased with worry, "I'm sorry Hime, I was so upset about all this I forgot you didn't know who my apprentice was…" Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly "I thought you were refusing to help him because you knew what burden he bears." He stepped forward to help Tsunade up. "I'm sorry about losing it like that with you Hime. It's just, I've been dealing with Konoha and their stupid beliefs for almost six years now. And with Danzo, trying to kill him and planning to start a war, then finding out that I had missed those seals for six years, Sensei being in a coma, and the woman I love refusing to help, it was just too much in the end." Jiraiya sat down heavily, placed his head in his palms and wept. He wept for his godson who was hooked up to so many machines there was barely any space in his hospital room. He wept for his sensei that wouldn't wake up. And he wept for himself, afraid that he had lost everyone that mattered to him in less than a week.

Tsunade was afraid; she had never seen Jiraiya like this before, so angry one minute, and weeping like a little girl the next. Not really knowing what to do she placed he hands on his shoulders and said, "Why don't you tell me exactly what happened on the way back? After all if I'm going to help anybody I need to know the full story."

Hearing this Shizune had perked up, "Does that mean we're finally going back?"

"Yes, yes it does, now help me get Jiraiya up so we can get a move on." Brushing the last of the tears out of his eyes Jiraiya gave Tsunade a watery smile. "Thanks but I can stand on my own. We have to hurry back before something bad happens to him. I'll tell you the story while we move."

As Jiraiya headed out the door, followed closely by Tsunade and Shizune, he said, "Well I guess I should start on what most people would call the worst day of Naruto's life."

Behind him Shizune quirked an eyebrow, "Most people? What do other people think is his worst?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Actually, Naruto claims that it's the most important day of his life, which in some ways makes it the best day of his life. After all, he says, good doesn't have to be pleasant and once you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up, right?" There was a slight pause as Jiraiya let his words sink in. "Well I guess it all started the morning of Naruto's seventh birthday…"

**A/N Cliffhanger no Jutsu! … I've always wanted to say that.**

**Sorry…Anyways I'm about halfway done with the next chapter expect it up sometime tomorrow or the day after. Please Read and Review; this is my first real attempt at writing a story (well the first one I'll actually let people look at) and any and all constructive criticism will be appreciated!**

**Ciao**

**Xahn777**

**A/N 2.0 (8/26/2012) Nothing much to add fixed a few spelling/grammar mistakes and broke up the paragraphs so they're easier to read. I still plan on doing a major re-write at some point when the story is over, but that will be posted under a different title.**


	2. I: The Worst Day Ever

I: The Worst Day Ever

_"Well I guess it all started the morning of Naruto's Seventh Birthday…."_

_Konoha: Five Years, Nine Months, Six days Ago_

_It hurt, oh Kami it hurt. He had never felt like this before, never felt fear like this before, never felt pain like this before. Each movement was agonizing, kunai and shuriken scraping against bone, the head of a pitchfork in his shoulder, the glass bottle in his gut-each breath was fire through four broken ribs, each awkward shuffling step was torture, the slash through his thigh had practically hamstrung him. But he couldn't stop. He could hear Them gaining every second he was still. He could see the glow of their torches, hear the shouts and screams the people crying for his blood, smell the sake on their breath, and once again the dizzying wave of terror descended upon him. He did the only thing he could._

_He ran._

Naruto had been looking forward to this day for over a year. He was finally a whole seven years old and he could finally buy himself a set of practice kunai and shuriken. He needed as much practice as he could-next year he would finally (finally!) be allowed to enter the Ninja Academy. Maybe if he was good enough, people would stop giving him those hateful looks. And there was going to be a festival tonight. Maybe if he was lucky the matron at the orphanage would let him go and celebrate with everyone! Shikamaru had told him about it yesterday at the park. He liked Shikamaru, Shikamaru was too lazy to really hate anyone sometimes he would sit and watch clouds with him for hours. On days where he was really lucky he would see Choji too. Choji would give him a few of his chips (he loved chips, he never got any snacks at the orphanage) and sit with them enjoying the breeze. Maybe he would see Shikamaru and Choji at the festival today-he couldn't wait!

As those thoughts raced through Naruto's head, he bounded up the orphanage's back steps and rushed to the matron's office. Skidding to a stop just in front of her door Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself, and politely knocked on the door. "Come in!" the matron called out in a sweet voice. As Naruto timidly opened the door the matron saw who it was. "Oh, it's you, what do you want brat?" The matron was a large friendly looking woman, most of the time, but whenever she saw Naruto her voice grew cold, her eyes hard, and a deep scowl appeared on her face.

"Um…y-y-you see…i-i-it's m-m-my b-birthday today and I heard that there's a f-f-festival t-t-tonight..." Naruto stuttered out while the matron glared at him.

Before he could continue the matron interrupted, "I expect you want to go? Well I'm afraid that you aren't allowed to go. Besides today is your chore day, as I'm sure you know."

Naruto looked upset, "But everyone else gets their birthdays off, why can't I? If I really can't go to the festival at least let me have the day off!" Naruto pleaded, trying to look pitiful.

"No. Now go before I make you scrub the bathrooms with your toothbrush again."

At this threat Naruto went purple with rage "WHY!? It's not fair! I've been looking forward to this for a year I saved every penny of allowance the Hokage gave me so I could get _myself_ a birthday present! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

As Naruto ranted the matron's face became colder and colder. "Fine!" she shouted, grabbing Naruto by the arm and dragging him through the orphanage to the front door "You want fair! I'll give you FAIR! I'll give you BETTER than FAIR! I'll give you MORE than YOU DESERVE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEMON!" she was screaming by the time she got to the front door. She pulled him to the edge of the step and kicked him as hard as she could in the gut, causing the young blond to roll down the stone steps. "YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE ANYMORE YOU DEMON!" She turned around and slammed the door shut making all the windows on the first floor rattle.

"At least let me get my stuff" whimpered Naruto from the bottom of the steps.

_It was too late-they had caught him on a roof top, the two ninja following him had hit him with half a dozen kunai and shuriken. One kicked him in the stomach again-if he had eaten anything today, he'd have thrown it up by now. _

_"Hey how much you wanna bet I can cut his leg off with one swing?" One of the ninja asked. _

_The other had an evil grin splitting his face in half, "200 ryo says you can't" as the first one drew his ninjato. He turned to the edge of the roof, trying to run away. He felt a searing pain across the back of his leg. He did the only thing he could._

_He jumped._

Naruto was not having a good time; he was sore, hungry, and poor. He tried to see the Old Man to tell him what happened but the receptionist said he was busy and wouldn't be able to see him for at least three days, and when Naruto tried to tell her it was urgent she threatened to sic the Anbu on him. Wandering the streets wondering what he did to deserve this, especially on his birthday of all things, he hoped that he could see Shikamaru and Choji-maybe they could help him. He wished that he knew where they lived. Maybe they'd help him, they were from clans right? Big ones! They were even clan heirs! Surely they could help him right? But no, he was tired and hungry; maybe he would take a short nap here behind the ramen stand, it smelled so nice. Maybe if he was lucky there would be leftovers he could eat, ramen was his favorite food. He never got it at the orphanage but occasionally Jiji would take him out for lunch and he would always pick ramen.

_As he lay there the world spun with each breath. He didn't know what was wrong with him but the shouts from the roof top five floors way bought his attention back to the present. He tried to stand but his injured leg gave out immediately. As they climbed down and began looking for him, fear rose in his throat-he had to get away. He did the only thing he could._

_He crawled._

Naruto awoke with a start, someone was kicking him! "What was that for?" he cried. Today was just not his day-he lost his home, his money, he was beaten twice so far, and he was starving!

"Oi Demon! What do you think you're doing here?" a large, grimy, and smelly man growled at him.

"Well I was trying to rest, but you started kicking me in the stomach… hey do you know when the festival starts?" Naruto's mind was prone to strange jumps of topic at the best of times but he was tired, hungry, cold and sore, and didn't really care what other people thought of him right now, "I hoped to see my friends, there 'cause I really need their help with something…"

Before Naruto could continue the drunk kicked Naruto in the stomach, "Demons don't have friends, brat!" While Naruto was on the ground whimpering, the drunk took the last swig of sake from his bottle. "Oh, I know" the drunk belched, "Let's play a little game of tag!" The drunk brought the now empty bottle down on Naruto's head. Kicking him into the street the drunk bellowed. "Lookie 'ere boys, I found us our very own Fox! For our very own Fox Hunt! Run little fox run!" Seeing the crowd of smelly drunks leering evilly at him Naruto ran.

_It was no use he couldn't move his body anymore. The Evil Men had surrounded him they were kicking him and stabbing him. One pinned him to the ground with a pitch fork as another tried to gut him with a broken glass bottle. As the world faded and the lights dimmed, the jeering calls of the mob quieted into a gentle breeze and the blows softened until he could imagine them as soft rain drops. For a moment there was peace. And he did the only thing he could._

_He wept._

_And in the dark, something woke from its long slumber. Its bright red eye opened for the first time in seven years. It did the only thing it could._

_It called_

_And the child answered._

Naruto woke in what appeared to be a dark sewer. The water was barely an inch deep but rising rapidly."So, Ningen, Are You My Jailer? Come To Gloat Have You?" The deep voice reverberated through the tunnel.

Struggling to stand, Naruto managed to raise himself onto his hands and knees. Looking ahead Naruto saw the bars of a huge cage stretching from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. In the darkness beyond the bars Naruto could see a huge red eye glaring at him, "I don't know who you are, where I am, what you want, or how I got away from the mob, but I would never lock someone away." As Naruto spoke he dragged himself over to the cage. "Wow, you're a big fox, you look like you could help me, would you hide me from the evil men who want to kill me?"

"Uh, Shouldn't You Cower In Fear Before The Mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune?" The Kyuubi was puzzled. Never had anyone actually asked for its help-they either took his power from him or forced him to do their bidding.

"What's a Kyuubi? Are they strong?" Naruto asked with a blank look.

"Very, I am the strongest Bijuu in all the land-the merest flick of my tails can level mounts and cause tsunamis!"the Kyuubi bragged.

"Oh, good, then please hide me, Kyuubi-san."

Naruto then did what many would call the stupidest thing possible-he dragged himself _into_ the Kyuubi's cage. Stunned by this idiocy the Kyuubi forgot to crush him like an ant and watched stunned as Naruto dragged himself over to its paw. "You have very soft fur Fox-san I think I'll take …a little...nap…here." Naruto latched onto the fox's leg, cuddling with it like it was a big pillow.

The Kyuubi was in shock, he was the biggest (at least until the fourth sealed half of him away, damn it), baddest, angriest, thing on the face of the earth and this little mortal brat was using him as a pillow! The Kyuubi's internal rant was cut off by the searing pain it suddenly felt blinking in the half light of torches. It realized just why the brat had come into its cage to hide. As the Kyuubi looked out through Naruto's eyes he found himself surrounded by twenty angry drunks with weapons, his body mangled. His chakra was too poisonous to use much of without killing the boy (and possibly himself, he wasn't sure). The Kyuubi pushed as much of its chakra into the boy's injured leg as he dared and stood shakily up.

"His eyes have gone red!" one of the men shouted.

"The Demon is getting loose-kill it quickly!"

The ninja with the sword drew his weapon and approached the panting red eyed child, "Cowards! It's almost dead! I'll cut its head of with one swing and be done with it!" The Kyuubi moved Naruto's body with surprising speed, dodging the clumsy swing of the drunken Chunin. He grabbed the ninja's wrist and with a sharp twist broke it. Before anyone else could react, the Kyuubi grabbed the ninjato from the man's loosened grip and ran him through with it. Leaving the sword in the man's stomach, the Kyuubi jumped over the group and ran for it, ignoring as much of the pain and fear as it could.

_It hurt, oh Kami it hurt. He had never felt like this before, never felt fear like this before, never felt pain like this before. Each movement was agonizing, kunai and shuriken scraping against bone, the head of a pitchfork in his shoulder, the glass bottle in his gut-each breath was fire through four broken ribs, each awkward shuffling step was torture, the slash through his thigh had hamstrung him. But he couldn't stop. He could hear Them gaining every second he was still. He could see the glow of their torches, hear the shouts and screams the people crying for his blood, smell the sake on their breath, and once again the dizzying wave of terror descended upon him. He did the only thing he could._

_He ran._

On the road from Tanzaku Town to Konoha: Present Day:

"You're kidding me!" Tsunade yelled "the kid did WHAT?" Tsunade couldn't believe her ears. Sure people did some stupid things trying to survive but slipping into what was obviously a prison to cuddle with the giant furry demon fox was a whole other level of stupid.

"How did he survive that? And how did you get the fox the let go of his body?" asked Shizune.

"Well," Jiraiya continued, "the Fox managed to keep them busy for another five minutes or so, before me and the Third managed to find him. Man, I've never seen Sensei so angry in all my life..."

A/N

Okay there's the first real chapter I know I promised you a strong Naruto but he's still only seven give him some time he hasn't even gotten his powers yet

Next Time On Sage Of The Seventh Path:

Watch as Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Kakashi And the Gallant(?) Jiraiya flip their shit!

A/N 2.0 8/27/2012

Reformatted this chapter as well. Just three more chapters and the formatting will be the same throughout the story. Also removed the reference to Kakashi from the end chapter.

BETA'd by TheCookieMonster77


	3. II: Answers And Questions

**II: Answers and Questions**

**_Present day on the Road to Konoha_**

"So, where were you and Sensei during all this?" asked Tsunade.

"Well," Jiraiya began, "I noticed something was wrong when I went to visit him to give him his birthday present on the sly. When I opened his window his room was trashed and all his possessions were torn to shreds. I was worried and went to confront the matron…"

**_Konoha: Five Years: Nine Months: Six days Ago_**

Jiraiya was worried. Naruto, his seven year old godson was missing, his room trashed, and no one claimed to have seen him today. _"At least there's no blood-that's a good sign right? I should have taken him in when he was still a baby! How did I let Sensei talk me into leaving him at an orphanage so I could keep running my spy network?"_ Jiraiya dropped from the roof of the orphanage into the enclosed backyard, where he had seen the matron playing with some of the children. "Excuse me miss, have you seen Naruto, little blond boy about this tall?" Jiraiya frowned at the look of disgust that flashed across the woman's face.

"Naruto? There's never been a boy by that name here. Now, please excuse me, I have _children,_ to look after." Jiraiya grabbed the woman's shoulder.

"Are you sure Miss? Never heard of _Uzumaki Naruto_-I'm sure The Third would absolutely _love_ to hear about this."

Scowling the woman grumbled, "I said there never was a _boy_ named Naruto here. I didn't know you were looking for the Demon too. Maybe if you hurry you'll be able to get some of the action. Last I heard it was giving the hunters quite the chase. Take what you want as a trophy, but I have dibs on its head-it'll look _fabulous_ over my fireplace. Besides, I set up this little fox hunt, so it's mine by right as organizer," the woman said smugly, not noticing the look of shock and horror that was spreading across Jiraiya's face. "The entry fee for the hunt is 50,000 ryo, payable to…"

Before she could finish Jiraiya sucker punched her in the gut, lifting her three feet off the floor. **"That '****_DEMON'_****is my GODSON,"**Jiraiya growled, "You're coming with me, bitch." With that Jiraiya slung the unconscious woman, who was now foaming at the mouth, over his shoulder and shunshined away in a swirl of leaves.

Skidding to a halt in front of the Hokage's tower, Jiraiya stormed into the reception area. "Get me Sensei and tell him it's about Naruto." The receptionist looked up from her 'work' (actually a game of solitaire) barely lifting an eyebrow at the sight of a large man with a larger woman slung over his shoulder (hey, ninjas are weird).

"Naruto's already been here. I've set him up with an appointment in," she looks down at her appointment book, "two weeks. Knowing him, whatever it is can wait."

By this point Jiraiya was pissed, and as much has he hated the woman slung over his shoulder, this lazy _bitch_ was now number two on his shit-list. Seething with rage at the apathy that might have just cost him the closest thing he had to family, Jiraiya lashed out with a foot, catching the desk and flipping it over the receptionist's head and into the door behind her. Jiraiya stormed into the Sandaime Hokage's office. "Naruto's gone missing. Apparently a group of drunks decided to have themselves a 'fox hunt' after this _whore_," he spat, dropping the matron on the floor, "decided that Naruto wasn't welcome at the orphanage anymore."

Before he had finished speaking Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was already pulling out his crystal ball, flashing through the hand seals and muttering the jutsu under his breath. "Something's wrong with his chakra, I can't find him!" Flashing through another set of hand seals Hiruzen readjusted his crystal ball's focus. Sighing with relief as the ball refocused with Naruto's distinctive orange jumpsuit swimming into view the Hokage said, "He's still alive. The tracking seal I placed on him is still functioning…" trailing off his eyes widened as the now Kyuubi controlled Naruto struggled down an alleyway, his many wounds obvious. "Kami…Jiraiya we have to hurry he's already half dead!" the Hokage cried as he jumped up and grabbed his robe and hat before leaping out of the window and running off, Jiraiya quickly catching up.

"Why the hat Sensei?" Jiraiya questioned. Despite the urgency of the situation he was genuinely curious as to why his sensei grabbed his hat before running off.

"I want those responsible and all who witness, to know what happens when you threaten one of Konoha's own. I'm not stopping them as Naruto's Jiji, Sarutobi Hiruzen, but as the Sandaime Hokage, whose job it is to protect those who live within Konoha's walls."

For the first time in its long life, the Kyuubi was tired. It had learned much in its short time controlling Naruto's body. It had always known the feel of the hunt, but that was as the thrill of the hunter, not the terror of the hunted. It thought it had known pain, but compared to the boys wounds, the sealing was a bad sunburn. But the exhaustion it felt right now was something that the Kyuubi had never had experienced before. Its body was made of pure chakra, so it couldn't get tired, _ever_, but now he was tired. It had run as hard and as long as it could but the boy's body couldn't take much more. It was taking all of the Kyuubi's impressive control just to remain upright and walking now.

His vision was swimming from blood loss, so the Kyuubi didn't notice the alley he was in was a dead end and staggered into the back wall, knocking himself down in the process. After dragging himself upright, the Kyuubi looked towards the mouth of the alley only to see its only path of escape cut off by the mob. **"Shit, what a way to go, eh, Ningen?"**the Kyuubi questioned.

Not hearing a response the Kyuubi looked into the seal the Kyuubi saw that the mortal brat had moved from his wrist to the crook of his elbow and was gently snoring. **"How could those villagers confuse him with****_ME_****? He looks about as threatening as a new born kit!"**Unknown to the Fox, a new emotion had filtered through Naruto into him. Curling up around the sleeping Naruto, the Fox murmured aloud, **"You're not bad for a mortal, Kit. I wish I could have done more for you, but if I used any more chakra your chakra pathways would have exploded, kind of defeats the whole purpose."** The Fox placed a large paw/hand over Naruto, **"All I can do now is make sure you're comfortable when you die…"** In the physical world Naruto's body collapsed against the wall, no longer having the strength to stand. Deciding that no-one deserved to die alone, the fox prepared to enter Naruto's mindscape and the seal within. As his eyes were closing two shapes blurred in front of him, one white and the other green. Blinking at the sudden intrusion the fox wondered what was going on.

Seeing the mob through the crystal ball and seeing them in person were two very different things. Through the ball you couldn't smell the blood and fear from Naruto, or the sake and smoke from the mob. The way they had landed caused Jiraiya to be in front, with the Hokage standing in his shadow, barely visible to the mob. "Oi who d'ye think ye are?" The leader of the mob slurred. "Tha's The Demon Fox tha' is! Ge' out o' our way, we needs to kill it! We'll be 'eroes, get medals an' everythin'!"

Despite the gravity of the situation the man _had_ asked who he was and it was polite to tell people the name of the person who killed them. Besides, his introduction annoyed people, and annoying people was always a good way to start the fight. Slamming his palms on the ground he summoned Gama underneath him.

As soon as he summoned Gama, the Kyuubi went back into the seal momentarily and woke Naruto up, **"Hey, Kit, wake up! You don't want to miss this!"**

Rubbing his eyes groggily Naruto asked, "What's goin' on?" Smirking, the Kyuubi pulled Naruto up so he could see through his eyes again, while trying to do his best to protect Naruto from the excruciating pain his body was in. After all, this looked promising and who would want to miss something like this because you had a dozen kunai lodged in your back?

Jiraiya and Gama fell into their favorite poses. "Thanks for asking! Mount Myoboku's Gama-Sennin, Member of the Legendary Sannin, The Gallant Jiraiya!" Pausing momentarily to enjoy the confused looks on their faces Jiraiya continued, "You'd better remember it because it's the _last thing you'll ever hear!_" the smarter ones were already trying to run. "Oh, no you don't! **Gamayudan** (Toad Oil Bullet)!" Jiraiya sprayed the mob, including those trying to escape, with thick, slimy oil, immobilizing them for what was to come.

Stepping to the side so the mob and the large number of people gathered around them to watch (from a reasonable safe distance, after all ninja were _dangerous_, and the one with the frog claimed to be the Gallant Jiraiya) could see just who was standing behind him, the whispers started when they saw the Hokage.

"It's the Hokage were saved!"

"No, you fool he has a soft spot for the Demon!"

"What's he gonna do? Arrest us? The council hates the Demon more than we do! We'll get off with a fine! Hell, they'd give us medals if the Demon kicked it!"

"Oh man I knew this was a bad idea, were so dead!"

"Danzo-sama I have failed you," One in the back whispered. Jiraiya made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the old warhawk, despite the anger clouding his vision.

"I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, after hearing the confessions of the accused, sentence you to immediate execution for the crimes of: Assault and Battery, Attempted Murder of a Minor, Attempted Murder of a Clan Heir, Attempted Murder of a Clan Head, Attempted Genocide of a Clan, violation of an S class secret, and Child Abuse."

The silence was deafening. Then the screams started, "What clan? He's an orphan!" one shouted, another cried "GENOCIDE?! THERE'S ONLY ONE OF HIM!" As the screams got louder more and more people gathered on the roofs and across from the alley, watching and waiting to see how the Sandaime would carry out his orders of execution.

"**_SILENCE!_**" Hiruzen bellowed. "I believe most of these crimes are self-explanatory and obvious. However, let it be known that not only is Uzumaki Naruto the last known Uzumaki of Uzu no Kuni, he is the direct descendant of the last clan head, which while technically only a clan heir, crimes against him are legally judged as if they were made against a clan head. And yes," he said turning to the man who had claimed that 'there's only one of him', "There _is only one of him_, that's what 'The Last of the Uzumaki' means. If you kill him there will be no more of them, ever, _which is Genocide_!" Hiruzen snarled. "And, now it's time for your sentence to be announced: Death by Burning."

Bringing up his hands he began the seals slowly and carefully announcing each one as he made it "Ram…Horse…Snake…Dragon…Rat…Ox…Tiger: Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet). Most of the ninja watching had backed up a good distance by the third seal; all but the most moronic civilians had backed up by the last. The screams and smell of burning were horrible-even some of the ninja watching turned green and many civilians had emptied the contents of their stomachs. But long before the screams had died down, Jiraiya and Hiruzen had gathered up the barely conscious Naruto/Kyuubi and shunshined to the Konoha General Hospital.

"We need a surgeon and a private room now, this is an S ranked mission, pay to be received on successful rehabilitation of the patient." After what he witnessed tonight, the Hokage had no faith in the people of the village when it came to Naruto. So he appealed to the one thing he, knew would work, their greed. Sitting in the Operating Room, watching as the surgeons bustled around Naruto while nearly panicking at the state he was in (whether it was from concern the wellbeing of the patient or their wallets Jiraiya wasn't sure). It was a long night for both Jiraiya and the Hokage.

**_Inside Naruto's Mind_**

"So you're the reason why everybody hates me? What did you do to piss them off so badly?" Naruto and the Fox were sitting in the seal talking about things while they waited for Naruto's body to be healed enough for Naruto to ask the Hokage questions about his past and his family. Even if he was the last one, he wanted to learn all about them. The Kyuubi had offered to tell him but Naruto wanted the Old Man to explain why he hadn't told him about his clan. So, instead they were talking about why the village hated him so much and how the Fox had gotten sealed inside him.

"**Well, when you were born the seal that kept me in your mother weakened enough for me to try to escape…"**

Naruto interrupted loudly with, "Wait you _knew_ my mother? Wait, wait, wait! YOU WERE SEALED INSIDE HER TOO!?"

"**You didn't know? I never really talked to her much. She had me sealed up tighter than a miser's purse so I don't know much about her or your father, but the Hokage definitely knows-add that to the list of questions you want to ask him. Anyway, Kit, don't you want to hear the test of the story?"**Naruto made a zipping motion over his lips and sat at attention, eyes shining with curiosity. Chuckling, the Kyuubi continued, **"No interruptions or I won't finish the story. Where was I? So yeah, I felt the seal weakening and tried to make my escape, 'cuz her seal made yours look like a day at the beach. I'm not sure how it happened but while I was struggling, some dude in a cloak and a funny mask actually pulled me from the seal. Before I could even blink he activates his Sharingan and used a Genjutsu, because the next thing I knew half the village was destroyed and the Fourth had summoned me to the woods where he, stole my Yang Chakra sealed it in the Shinigami. I'll admit before he dumped my Yin Chakra and my mind into you I tried to kill you because I hadn't been free since your village was founded, and it's always so hard to think when I'm not inside a physical body. But he and your mother blocked my claw with their bodies before finishing the sealing. That's the last thing I really remember before waking up during your fight."**Scratching his head the Kyuubi paused for a moment, **"Sorry about trying to kill you like that, my chakra is pretty potent and angry… it's always so hard to think straight without a flesh and blood body shielding my mind. So, any questions?"**

"Just one, what's your name? I mean it's rude to keep calling you Fox, and Kyuubi is just a title…so do you have a name? If you don't I can try to give you one!" Naruto said cheerfully.

After stopping to think for a moment the Kyuubi decided to speak, **"You're the first person to ask for my name since it was given to me. My name is Kurama. Pleased to meet you."**

"Uzumaki Naruto, likewise." Naruto said offering his tiny hand to Kurama.

Chuckling, Kurama held out his pinky for the boy to shake. **"Now get some rest we have a busy day tomorrow."**

**_The Next Morning_**

Jiraiya woke with a start. Something was wrong with Naruto, he could tell. Shaking his Sensei, awake he turned to see Naruto staring at him with bright red eyes. **"We need to talk before the Kit wakes up."**

**A/N**

**To those wondering while Naruto is inside the seal and touching Kurama, the seal allows Kurama control Naruto's body. And the thought of a seven year old Naruto treating Kurama like a giant stuffed animal was one of the reasons I decide to write this story**

**Ciao**

**Xahn777**

**A/N 2.0 (8/28/2012**

**Formatted, a few minor changes to the grammar, but this chapter needs to be rewritten completely before I'll be satisfied with it.**

BETA'd By TheCookieMonster77


	4. III: Answers And Questions 2

**II: Answers and Questions 2**

**_Konoha: Five Years: Nine Months: Five days Ago_**

_Jiraiya woke with a start. Something was wrong with Naruto, he could tell. Shaking his Sensei, awake he turned to see Naruto staring at him with bright red eyes._**_"We need to talk before the Kit wakes up."_**

"Before the kit…" Jiraiya's eyes widened in panic. He rushed to Naruto's bed and yanked his shirt up. Sighing in relief at what he found, Jiraiya turned to the Hokage. "The seal's fine, but how is the fox talking?"

"**I'm right here Ningen, I can hear you."**Kurama growled.

"Sensei, have you ever heard of a Jinchūriki's seal acting like this?" Ignoring the Bijuu, Jiraiya turned to the Hokage, "Because I've never even heard a rumor that such a thing was possible."

Kurama used a brief flash of killing intent to catch the attention of the two old men. **"Ignoring me is..."**

Before he could finish, the widow shattered and a tall silver haired man barreled into the room. The man was dressed in the standard ANBU uniform; black shinobi pants under knee high shinobi sandals, a sleeveless turtleneck under a grey flak-jacket, long black gloves that came up to mid-bicep under grey forearm protectors, and a white porcelain mask, his mask patterned after a wolf. His long handled ANBU sword was held in a reverse grip and his left eye was glowing red in the shadows behind his mask. "I sensed the Kyuubi's killing intent from the building across the street. I came as fast as I could. Is Naruto alright?" The masked ninja sounded bored out of his mind, but the man's tense shoulders gave away his nerves.

"Stand down Inu; we were trying to figure out what had happened to Naruto when you burst through the window like that."

Seemingly forgotten Kurama's eyebrows twitched, **"You could just ask me, you know. I****_am_****still here."**

Inu jumped at the deep, almost demonic, voice coming from the seven year old boy. "What's going on, Hokage-sama?"

Palming his face Hiruzen said, "How about we let the fox tell us exactly what's going on, since he seems so eager to share?"

"**Finally, if the kit didn't like you so much, and we were actually able to move, I'd have turned you two into grease stains on the walls, and floor…and ceiling, for ignoring me like that!"** The fox grumbled, momentarily forgetting why he was even bothering to talk to these two. **"You wanted to know what happened last night, right? Well to start, the kit is the either stupidest, or the craziest being ever, followed closely by your villagers."**The Kyuubi began to explain how Naruto was thrown out of the orphanage, attacked, and nearly killed over the course of ten hours.

At this point, Inu interrupted, "I _told_ you Naruto should have always had an ANBU bodyguard!"

With his face in his hands the Hokage said, "I'm sorry, Inu, I promise you after this I'll always have an ANBU escorting him were ever he goes. In fact, I'm willing to offer you the mission, long term, and make it S rank."

Now Inu wasn't a greedy person, unless a certain series of orange covered books were involved. He would have taken the mission even if it was only B or C rank, but seeing as the author of his favorite series in the room, he decided to charge a little extra. "I'll do it, but I want an autographed copy of every book in the _Icha-Icha Paradise_ series, and an advance copy of each new book, also autographed!"

Both the Hokage and Jiraiya sweat dropped at this. "You realize," Jiraiya said slowly, in the tone of voice one uses for small children and the mentally challenged, "That with the amount of money you'd get from a long term S rank, you could buy 1,000 sets of my books right?"

"**Ah-hem,"**The Kyuubi interrupted, **"don't you want to actually know what happened? At this rate, the kit's going to wake up long before I finish what I have to say!" **Launching back into the story, Kurama continued with how, half dead, Naruto had entered his mindscape, and actually crawled into the seal, and how Kurama kept him alive until the Hokage and Jiraiya showed up.**"Now that that's over, let's get to the reason I'm actually talking to you. The Kit has a mile long list of questions about his family. Answer them, or I will. I'm giving you this chance to make it up to him, don't waste it."** Kurama paused for a second, his eyes glassing over. **"Seems the Kit is waking up-remember what I said."**

"Morning Jiji. Who are the other two old guys with you?" Naruto yawned and stretched, his eyes still red, showing that the Kyuubi was indeed listening in.

"Oi brat, I'm only 21! Who are you calling old?" Inu grumbled.

Blinking at this new piece of information Naruto replied "Really? Only 21? But your hair's already grey and everything!"

Eyebrows twitching behind his mask Inu said, "I'm going to pretend you didn't call my very clearly _silver_ hair, grey and call me old because of it. It would make a terrible impression to kill my new charge, especially in front of my bosses, less than a minute after I met him."

"Whatever. Jiji, I have a TON of questions for you! Last night you said I had a clan and that I was a direct descendent of the last clan head. Does that mean you know who my parents were? Why didn't you tell me about my parents? What about Kurama, did you know about him too? What was my clan good at? Where were they from? Why does no-one know about them? Was the matron telling the truth when she said that my parents abandoned me because I was a demon? Do I have any family left? Kurama said you knew who my father was, why didn't you ever tell me?" Naruto was babbling with excitement by the end of his mental list.

"Easy Naruto, one thing at a time. Technically, you're the sole surviving member of two clans, I only told them about you being a member of the Uzumaki clan last night because that's not a secret. And yes I know who your parents are. I'm sorry I haven't told you yet, but it's an S ranked secret. I had planned on telling you when you became a Chunin or turned 18-whichever came first-but I will tell you today. Your father founded a clan two years before you were born. Unfortunately, he died the night you were born, as did your mother, so your clan never really got past one member. Your father was known for his ability to create new techniques, and his love of experimenting with existing Jutsu, so I guess you could say that it's your father's clan specialty. Now the Uzumaki were known for three things: their incredible longevity-members living to see their 200th birthday was commonplace. Another thing they were well known for was their skill in fuinjutsu, the art of sealing-an Uzumaki Sealmaster with time to prepare was one of the most feared things in the Elemental Nations. There seemed to be nothing they couldn't do. In fact, their fearsome reputation was one of the main reasons Uzu no Kuni was wiped off of the map during the Third Great Shinobi War. The final thing they were known for was their high levels of Yang Chakra, which they used to create physical chains of Chakra to attack and bind things. Your father's clan was from Konohagakure, and your mother's was from Uzushiogakure, The Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides, the hidden village of Uzu no Kuni, The Land of Whirlpools. Now I have no idea who or what Kurama is but your parents _never_abandoned you. They both died the night the Kyuubi was sealed inside you. Did that answer all of your questions?"

"No, you never told me if I have any family left, or why no one remembers such a famous sounding place like Uzu no Kuni! Oh, and Kurama's mad at me. Apparently you don't deserve to know his name, and he's sulk-**I AM NOT SULKING BRAT!"**

Temporarily stunned by the Kyuubi's interruption, Inu was the first to react. "The Kyuubi has a name? Why doesn't anyone know it?" he asked, perplexed.

"Blegh- that was weird, it felt like my tongue tied itself in a knot." Naruto complained, making weird noises with his tongue, like he was trying to get peanut butter off the roof of his mouth.

"Technically all of Konoha remembers Uzu no Kuni. Our Chunin and Jonin, wear the Uzumaki clan symbol on the back of their flak jackets. None of the ninjas talk about it because we are ashamed that we failed our longtime allies in their hour of need. By the time our ninja forces got to Uzushiogakure, it was already destroyed. Now to answer your last question, before I move on to your parents, yes you have one known relative on each side of your family. Oddly enough, it's the same person, Senju Tsunade, granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage. She is your first cousin once removed on your mother's side of the family. Your great-grandfather's sister on your mother's side was Uzumaki Mito, wife of the Shodai Hokage. Your father's side of the family is a little more complicated. Technically, he was an orphan, but we did some research into his family before he started a clan. His family was distantly related to the Senju as well, which makes Tsunade your third or fourth cousin, I can't remember which."

Jiraiya frowned at this, "Wait, this brat's related to Tsunade-hime _twice_? Does she even know? Why are you letting his closest relative run around Hi no Kuni drunk off her ass?"

"Yes, no, and because currently she's mentally unfit to raise a child. The loss of Dan and Nawaki extinguished her Will of Fire. Now Naruto before I tell you your parents' names you must know that this is an SS class secret, and you may not tell anyone without my direct approval before you reach the rank of Jonin. Swear this to me now and then I will tell you your parents' names."

Naruto was upset. "Why should I have to promise not to tell anyone my parents' names? Did they do something bad?"

The Hokage shook his head, "No, Naruto your parents were heroes, but they made many enemies. If word got out ,to say Iwa or Kumo, you would have S ranked ninjas trying to kill you on a regular basis. It was for your own safety that we did not tell you who your parents were. So, promise me Naruto, that you won't tell anyone."

"I promise Jiji." Naruto swore as solemnly as he could, "Please, who are my parents?"

The third stroked his beard for a moment, "That's good enough for me. Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, the Akai Chishio no Habanero (red hot-blooded habanero) and former Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Your father was Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Kiiroi Senkō (yellow flash), the Yondaime Hokage, and the man who sealed the Kyuubi in you after it escaped its prison."

Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers-his parents were heroes! Famous ones! His biggest hero, the man he dreamed of surpassing, was his father! He'd never been so happy! So he did the one thing his brain was capable of handling.

He fainted.

Jiraiya stood up and walked over to the unconscious boy. "I wonder…" he muttered, pulling Naruto's eye open to see if his eyes were still red and silted like the fox's. What he saw was definitely not what he expected. Instead of the bright cerulean blue Naruto's eyes were normally, there was now a band of light purple around a contracted pupil. 'That color looks familiar, if I could only remember where I saw it last…' he wondered.

**A/N**

**This Chapter is dedicated to Prince, the best cat anyone could ask for. I'll miss you buddy, have fun in the great sandbox in the sky.**

**Ciao**

**Xahn777**

**A/N 2.0 8/30/2012**

**Not much to say. New chapter is almost done, I wanted the land of sea arc to be over in two chapters but it looks like it's going to be three.**


	5. IV: The Training Begins

**_Road to Konoha Present day_**

"So, I'm related to the little brat? And Sensei never told me? Just because I have a little drinking problem?" Tsunade demanded. "C'mon, even if you don't want me to raise him you could at least let me know I have _some_family left. I'm going to wake him from his coma just so he'll know why I'm punching him through a wall!" Tsunade had been ranting since Jiraiya stopped to catch his breath.

Jiraiya chuckled, "Yeah I was surprised to," Jiraiya agreed, "since we've stopped, do either of you have any questions?"

Shizune raised her hand, "I do. What happened to his eyes?"

"Well," Jiraiya began, scratching the back of his head, "it's kinda hard to explain without giving away half the story. It took us a few years to figure out exactly what had happened to his eye. At first we thought it was a new Kekkei Genkai, we called it the Nishikime (Two-Tone-Eye/Dichromatic eye). I'm sure Kurama knew exactly what it was from day one, but he enjoyed our confusion, damn sadistic fox."

"So," Tsunade interrupted, "what did it do?"

Jiraiya chuckled, "Don't ask, half the fun is in the surprise. Now where was I?"

**_Konoha: Five years, Eight Months, Twenty-Nine Days ago:_**

Naruto was going stir crazy, he'd been trapped in this hospital bed for a whole week! After he tried to escape for the third time the first day, they actually tied him down! And Kurama was no help-he was laughing his fuzzy ass off inside Naruto's head, apparently enjoying the sight of his jailer imprisoned. All he would say was, **"Complain to me after you've been locked up for 150 years."**

To pass the time Naruto had started reading _Fuinjutsu for Dummies: or How to Make a Storage Seal with All Your Fingers Intact_by "The Gallant Jiraiya." It was the first in a series of fuinjutsu instruction manuals. It was complicated stuff, even the most basic seal gave Naruto a headache, but Naruto swore that he would become the greatest seal master ever. After all, both his parents were seal masters-it was in his blood, and he _would_ get there even if it killed him! He really wanted to start making a seal, but Jiraiya took one look at his hand writing and said, "Even if you made the seal perfectly your handwriting is so bad, all it would do is explode in your face. I'll get you a calligraphy writing set, but no Chakra inks until I say so. And if I catch you trying to make a seal unsupervised, Chakra ink or not, by the time I'm done with you you'll wish the seal blew up in your face!" So Naruto had read, with some help from Inu (who was appalled that no one had actually tried to teach him to read, and impressed with how much Naruto had managed to teach himself), through three quarters of the book and made his handwriting almost legible.

But right now all Naruto wanted to do was get out of this place. Although he wasn't sure where he'd go when he got out, he felt any thing would be better than the stupid hospital. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! IM SO BORED! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! I'LL PRANK YOU SO HARD YOUR GRADNKIDS WILL FEEL IT!" Naruto had been shouting similar threats for the last two hours. Inu was sitting in the corner reading from a small orange book, apparently oblivious to the racket the blond was making.

"Alright, alright, the doctors say that if you can keep shouting like that for 2 hours straight, then you're fit enough to go home," Jiraiya grumbled as he walked into the room. "We got what was left of your stuff from the orphanage. The Hokage bought an apartment for you, I bought you some furniture, and Inu over there," he pointed at the silent man in the corner, who looked up at the sound of his name and gave Naruto a cheery wave, "bought you some books, although most of them will have to wait until you're 18."

Inu snickered at this, "Those are the good ones." The lanky man stood up and stretched, "C'mon Jiraiya-sensei, tell the brat the good news so we can head out. I hate hospitals."

"I was getting to that, brat." Jiraiya turned to Naruto with a large grin spread across his face. "Now here's the best bit. After what happened to you on your birthday the Hokage decided to place you in the care of some people he trusts, namely myself and Inu. Now, we both have jobs that can take us away from Konoha for weeks at a time, so we've set up a schedule. I'll take care of you for two weeks, one week we share, two weeks Inu watches you, then one week we share again." As he was talking to Naruto, he was unsealing the straps around Naruto's ankles, thighs, waist, chest, wrists, elbows, and head. "Wow, you must be quite the escape artist for them to tie you down like this," he said as he help Naruto take off the stiff mittens they had placed on his hands. "These things weigh a ton." Jiraiya was pretty impressed; even insane shinobi didn't have to be locked down like that. The kid was stubborn, you had to give him that. As soon as Jiraiya had unsealed the last strap Naruto bolted straight out the window and ran for his life.

Closing the book Inu sighed, "He doesn't know where the apartment is does he?" Sighing once more at the sight of Jiraiya shaking his head, Inu jumped out after Naruto.

"FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST!" Naruto shouted running and jumping through the town square. "NO MORE STUFFY ROOM! NO MORE NASTY FOOD! FREEDOM! WOO-HOO!" As he was jumping and spinning, a hand caught him by the shoulder.

Looking up Naruto could see that it was Inu, and judging by the man's body language, he was not happy with him for having run off. "Next time, at least make sure you know where you're going when you make your escape." Naruto could practically hear the sound of Inu's eyes rolling behind his mask. "Come with me." Inu said as he shunshined away with Naruto's shoulder firmly in his grasp.

"Whoa, everything's spinning Inu-ojisan, how were you moving that fast?" Naruto was staggering around in circles in the living room of the apartment the Hokage had bought him.

"Don't barf-we spent all day yesterday cleaning this place up for you." Inu said as he casually tripped Naruto on his way to an armchair so that he could continue reading. "We need to wait for Jiraiya-sensei before we discuss your training." Inu said while Naruto rolled around on the floor cursing him.

Popping up so fast even Inu had a hard time seeing him move, Naruto was vibrating with excitement. "Training? What kind of training? Will you teach me really cool jutsus? Or some awesome Taijutsu moves? Maybe more about seals? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Naruto was hopping up and down on the spot, eyes as wide as they could go.

"Quiet, Brat" Jiraiya said as he knocked Naruto upside his head. "We're going to start simple with the three academy Jutsu, the Kawarimi, the Henge, and the Bunshin; the leaf sticking chakra control exercise; the basic academy Taijutsu style, until we know what your strengths are and find you a style that matches; how to recognize and break Genjutsu; and some slightly more advanced fuinjutsu training. Oh, and copious amounts of physical exercise, of course." Naruto gulped at the last bit, he didn't think Jiraiya would make the exercise any fun. "We'll start every day at six in the morning at Training Ground Seven for physical exercise, two hours of actual exercises and two hours Taijutsu training. After that comes four hours of chakra exercises, two hours of control and two hours practicing the Academy Jutsu. Then we'll have two hours of fuinjutsu training, followed by two hours of Genjutsu training. We'll be doing this routine five days a week and the sixth day will be focused on testing what you've learned that week. We'll keep this regime for the next year. If you do well, and have enough chakra, I'll teach you a jutsu that will let you keep up your training during your academy years. Remember, no matter how well you do I won't let you graduate early because the four years you spend in the academy is very important to your social development. Today, after we unpack your stuff and set up your room, we'll be going over your fuinjutsu to see exactly how much work you need to do." Naruto gulped-twelve hours of training a day? He could already picture how much pain he'd be at the end of each day.

After spending the next two hours arranging and rearranging his room until it was perfect, Naruto got out his calligraphy set and did the handwriting exercises to show to Jiraiya. "Well, it's a start; I can actually read what you wrote now. Tomorrow we can really start your fuinjutsu training. Now brat do you know how to access your chakra yet?" Seeing Naruto shake his head Jiraiya continued. "Well, start with a half-ram seal, like this," Jiraiya demonstrated the correct hand seal, "no, not like that, like this" Jiraiya corrected Naruto's hand seal, "your fingers are too stiff, relax. Much better. Now look inside yourself. You should feel something, some kind of energy-it feels different to each person."

His hand still held in the half-ram position, Naruto closed his eyes, expecting to find the energy right away. He was disappointed when he felt nothing, and as he searched, he grew more and more panicked. Just as he was about to give up, he saw flashes of light in the distance. As he grew closer to the lights, he saw a huge, almost flat, wall of clouds stretching into the darkness around him. He had technically found the energy at the very beginning, after all he had done exactly what Jiraiya had told him to do. He had fallen into the center of his powe-was it his fault that he had landed in the eye of the storm?

"Naruto! NARUTO! That's enough, your burning the floor!"

Blinking, Naruto came out of his trance. "Heh-heh, sorry about that it took me a little while to realize I had found my power…" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Kid, just how do you miss that much power?" Jiraiya looked at Naruto with disbelief.

"Well, the center of my power was empty-it was pitch black with a smattering of stars overhead. But I saw a flash of light out of the corner of my eye and headed towards it, and eventually I saw in the distance a huge wall of clouds. There was thunder, lightning, wind and rain-it was beautiful!" In his head Jiraiya was impressed. Naruto's power took the form hurricane, which spoke of a strong affinity for wind, water and lightning. Then there was the fact that he had found his power instantly, and on his first try. The kid had real talent-it was shame he was as dumb as a box of rocks.

Reaching into his pocket, Jiraiya took out a piece of chakra paper. "I had intended to save this for later, but after what I just heard I have a theory that I want to test. Here, take this and channel some chakra into it." Looking at him as if he were mad, Naruto took the paper from Jiraiya and did as the Sennin said. Naruto yelped in surprise as the paper he held shredded itself into ten pieces. Then the pieces crinkled into little balls. Naruto bent down to pick up one of the pieces, "Hey it's soaking wet!"

"Heh-heh, looks like I was right. It seems like you have a strong wind and water affinity, and a decent lightning affinity. Having three affinities is quite rare, I can only think of one or two ninja with three affinities, most people only have one."

"Really? How many do you have? Which one is it?" Naruto asked.

"Believe it or not, I have the two you don't have, Earth and Fire. Inu is one of the ninja I know of with three. He has Lightning, Water, and Earth. Now before you ask, not having an affinity doesn't mean you can't use Jutsu from that affinity. Inu over here is quite skilled with fire jutsu, but he's had to work a lot harder to get as good as he is with them. Now go to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow and you'll need all the sleep you can get."

And he was right. By the end of the day every muscle in Naruto's body felt like it was on fire. If anything the next day was worse-Naruto barely managed to crawl into bed that night. But the third day was better. Naruto still hurt all over, but the individual exercises were less painful. And so it went for the next six months, each day Naruto got a little better, and eventually he moved from the leaf sticking exercise to the tree walking exercise. He had learned the Henge almost immediately, and the Kawarimi soon after. But try as he might, he was getting nowhere with the Bunshin no Jutsu. His fuinjutsu had improved by leaps and bounds-he could make basic storage seals and he could make functional, if unpredictable, explosive tags. Jiraiya discovered that while Naruto had a lot of potential for Genjutsu, his control was so horrible that making them was almost impossible. Plus, he was so thick that the first time he was placed in one he didn't notice for six hours. Eventually, Jiraiya taught Naruto three elemental jutsu, one for each of his elements; Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough), Suiton: Suiben (Water Release: Water Whip), and Raiton: Seidenki Shōgeki (Lightning Release: Static Shock). And while he enjoyed learning them more than the Academy Three, his chakra control was pretty poor and he had a tendency to overdo the jutsus all the time, leaving him exhausted by the end of the day.

During this time he finally learned Inu's name, which was Hatake Kakashi. Naruto also learned that Kakashi was one of his father's students and Kakashi promised him that when he graduated he would teach Naruto some of his father's techniques.

**_Konoha: Five years, Two Months, Eleven Days ago:_**

Naruto and Kakashi had just gotten to Training Ground Seven when it happened. The training ground filled with a thick white fog, and a voice echoed from around them, **"Eight Fatal Targets; Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular Vein, Subclavian Artery, Kidneys, Heart. Which One Should I kill you with?"**

**A/N Beta'd by TheCookieMonster77**


	6. V: Assassinations and Explosions

**_Road to Konoha Present Day_**

"Whoa, whoa, don't stop there! It was just getting good!" Tsunade grumbled, who had become genuinely interested in the brat's story. Jiraiya had decided to stop and scout out a suitable camping location. They had been traveling for a few hours already and as it had already been dark when they left it was almost midnight.

The next morning Tsunade, who had taken last watch, woke Jiraiya up by kicking him in the ribs. "It's morning. Get up and get on with the story you evil bastard."

"Ugh, Woman, I think you cracked my ribs. You could have just shaken me awake. I took middle watch; couldn't you let me have another hour of sleep? The sun's not even up yet." Indeed, the sky was grey with predawn light and they weren't due to start traveling for another hour.

"Just shut up and tell the story." Jiraiya decided that even her interest in the story wouldn't save him if he pointed out the contradiction in that statement.

"All right, get Shizune and I'll pick up where I left off."

**_Konoha: Five years, Two Months, Eleven Days ago:_**

_Naruto and Kakashi had just got to Training Ground Seven when it happened. The training ground filled with a thick white fog, and a voice echoed from around them,_**_"Eight Fatal Targets; Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular Vein, Subclavian Artery, Kidneys, Heart. Which One Should I kill you with?"_**

"Shit! This is the Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Kakashi was worried; he was almost certain the person was an assassin after Naruto, which meant that the user of this jutsu was skilled in the silent killing technique. Kakashi grabbed Naruto by his shoulder. "Naruto on the count of three, I want you to fire a Daitoppa directly ahead of you," Kakashi whispered into the blond's ear.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

The two techniques collided with each other, the wind feeding the flames until the fire ball had reached humongous proportions. The heat from the flames evaporated the mist, revealing a large pale man with his hitai-ate sideways, the lower half of his face hidden by bandages, striped grey-blue pants, black and white camouflage patterned leg and arm warmers, and a belt over his shoulder which was used to hold the mammoth zanbatou he held casually over his shoulder.

"Momochi Zabuza, The Demon of the Hidden Mist. I heard you became a missing-nin, what are you doing all the way out here?" As Kakashi entered his combat stance he lifted his hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan.

"Copy-Cat Ninja Kakashi, what an unpleasant surprise. I'm going to have to renegotiate my price for killing the boy." As he was speaking the mist was slowly getting thicker. Suddenly charging forward, Zabuza swung his sword, the mighty Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife/ Executioner's Blade), directly at Naruto, who was frozen in fear. Kakashi managed to intercept the blow with a kunai, which Kubikiribōchō immediately began to cut through.

"You can't beat me with just a kunai, Kakashi." Zabuza said while increasing the weight he put behind his sword.

"Good thing I have more than a kunai." Kakashi kicked Zabuza in the gut, sending him flying backwards a few feet.

Kakashi charged, getting inside Zabuza's guard, using the Kubikiribōchō's massive size against Zabuza. Keeping up with Zabuza with his Sharingan, Kakashi's punches and kicks flew with blinding speed. Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't realize he was pushing Zabuza towards the small stream that bordered the Training ground.

"Not bad, but your still going to die." Taking a deep breath and making the Tiger hand seal, Zabuza continued his attack, "Suiton: Teppōdama" (Water Release: Gunshot), spitting several blasts of water at Naruto, he forced Kakashi to move to intercept them, giving him enough time and room to gather water for a slightly larger attack. "Suiton: Suihachi" (Water Release: Water Bowl). Using the high powered jet of water spraying from his palm to force Kakashi farther away from Naruto, allowing Zabuza to begin his third attack "Suiton : Suiben" (Water Release; Water Whip). Firing three whips at Kakashi, Zabuza used the momentary distraction to charge in close and try to decapitate the Copy Ninja. But, just as he raised his sword, a flying ball of orange slammed into his side. So instead of taking Kakashi's head off in one swipe, the sword just bit into his side, injuring Kakashi but not killing him out right.

"Naruto, run to the Hokage's office, I'll hold him off as long as I can."

"HELL NO! There is no way I'm leaving you here Kakashi-ojisan! I can fight too! Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Unfortunately instead of the huge blast of air Naruto had fired earlier this one was barely more than a sneeze. Zabuza barely had to move to dodge the attack. Zabuza countered his attack with a roundhouse kick that cracked Naruto's ribs and sent him crashing into a tree. As Naruto was sent flying, Kakashi broke free from the water whips. Tired and bleeding heavily, Kakashi used the last of his energy to charge up a Chidori and rush at Zabuza. Unfortunately, the blood loss and the onset of chakra exhaustion were setting in, so instead of impaling Zabuza through his heart he gave Zabuza a wound on Zabuza's left side to mirror his own wound on the right.

Clutching the wound on his left side Zabuza looked down at the unconscious ninja, "Ugh, what the hell was that?"

Ten feet away Naruto was coming to, and part of him would have rather stayed unconscious. His right eye, the one with the purple ring around the pupil, felt like someone had stabbed him in the eye with a kunai. His vision swam, strange colors swirling in the air. He felt something warm and wet, like tears but sticky, flowing from his eye, rubbing it off of his face he looked at his hand and realized he'd been crying tears of _blood._ "That can't be healthy," Naruto thought. Trying to focus on what was in front of him he saw Kakashi on the ground and Zabuza standing over him one arm clutching his side the other holding his sword over Kakashi. As he swung his massive sword, Naruto stretched his hand out, wishing there was something he could do. Suddenly, his Chakra flared and Kakashi _flew_ through the air to Naruto's outstretched hand.

Growling, Zabuza turned to the bleeding blond, who was gasping from the sudden loss of chakra and the stabbing pain in his eye. "Nice trick kid, but that only bought you a few more seconds to live."

Remembering the desire he had to bring Kakashi to him and the feeling of his chakra flowing through his eye, Naruto inverted it, and prayed to Kami that it would work. Naruto clapped his hands and focused as much chakra as he could into the move. The results, to say the least, were surprising-everything in a 60 degree arc in front of him had been uprooted and hurtled away. Blinking as his vision swam Naruto stared at the devastation in front of him-everything for a quarter mile seemed to have been swept away by a mighty blast of wind. His eye throbbed once more, the pain of it knocking him out, just as the Hokage and a team of med-nins arrived on the scene.

"Kami, what happened here?" one of the medics asked, staring at the devastation with a look of awe on his face.

"Over here, you can stare at the landscaping later. This man's bleeding out!"

Naruto woke in his least favorite place in the whole world-the hospital. "Ugh. My head is killing me… Kakashi-ojisan!" Remembering the fight Naruto tried to jump out of bed. All he managed, however, was rolling out of bed and straight on to the floor. Naruto choked back a scream as he landed on his broken ribs. He began to drag himself towards the door, desperate to find out what happened to Kakashi.

Before he got there the door opened, and the Hokage stepped into the room. "Naruto, what are you doing on the floor?" he sighed, and bent down to pick Naruto up. "Believe it or not, you're suffering from severe chakra exhaustion. Whatever you did to level the Training ground like that sucked your chakra dry."

"What about Kakashi-ojisan?" Naruto croaked "He's alright isn't he? I tried my best but my second Daitoppa barely did anything."

"Yes, Naruto, Kakashi will live. We got there in time to seal the wound and give him the blood pills he needed to survive, but it was a close thing. As of right now, Kakashi is suffering from chakra exhaustion, and will have quite the scar on his side. By the end of the week he'll be back to normal." The Hokage carried Naruto and placed him back on the hospital bed. "Now, I need you to tell me exactly what happened after Kakashi passed out."

Naruto explained what had happened; about the pain in his eye, the tears of blood, how he pulled Kakashi to him, and how he then blew away Zabuza. "Well," the Hokage said when Naruto was done, "that explains the damage to the chakra pathways around your eye. Several of the smaller ones burst, damaging the capillaries that fed your eye. Whatever that technique was you overloaded it. I recommend that you practice controlling that technique somewhere that can afford to be damaged, like the newly cleared Training Ground Zero." He was, of course, referring to the quarter mile arc on the edge of training ground seven that Naruto had cleared.

Half a mile from Training Ground Zero, the trees, rocks, and dirt had landed in a large tangled pile of debris. Suddenly, a pale fist clutching a large sword broke through the detritus that had buried him. Pulling himself out from under the debris, Zabuza staggered off, as fast as he could move, using his sword as a crutch. "Okay, no one told me the brat could do _that_-that's way outside my contract parameters. If I ever see that pink haired banshee again, I'm slitting her from neck to navel and dumping her body in the street." Unwrapping the bandages around his face, Zabuza used them to bind his side. "Maybe I should go back to Kirigakure, find some people with a Kekkei Genkai, and set up a rebellion now," he grumbled, turning around to look at the devastation his blond target had caused. "I mean, Yagura certainly can't cause that much damage just by clapping-I hope…" Grumbling under his breath about overpowered midgets, Zabuza staggered away from Konoha. "If I never see that blond midget again it'll be too soon."

Much to their mutual displeasure, Kakashi and Naruto had to spend the rest of the week in the hospital. Needless to say, when Jiraiya returned, he was less than pleased with what had happened. Vowing to make _both_ their lives miserable for at least the next six months, Jiraiya demoted Kakashi from fellow instructor to student, and expressly forbade him from using his Sharingan until Jiraiya said so. Jiraiya had claimed that Kakashi's reliance on his Sharingan's ability to predict his opponents' moves, and as easy way to learn new moves, would get him killed. Jiraiya had assigned Kakashi eight hours of Ninjutsu practice a day. He gave Kakashi a list of Ninjutsu and only allowed him to practice one move at a time until Kakashi could perform the jutsu in his sleep. Only then was he allowed to practice the next jutsu on the list. Much to Naruto's dismay, Jiraiya added another two hours of practice to his day, as well as dropping his Genjutsu training. Naruto's Genjutsu ability had plateaued-he could at least recognize and break most basic Genjutsus, but his control was still so horrible that _actually_ using any Genjutsu was beyond him.

His schedule was now:

6:00-10:00: Physical exercise and Taijutsu training.

10:00-2:00: Chakra control exercises.

2:00-2:30: Lunch.

2:30-4:30: Ninjutsu Practice.

4:30-6:30: Fuinjutsu training.

6:30- 7:00: Dinner.

7:00-9:00 Practice with his eye's unusual abilities.

Jiraiya was still unsure as to what Naruto's eye actually did. At first he thought it had something to do with high level wind control, but until Naruto was able to actually perform the move without leveling a city blocks worth of terrain, Jiraiya couldn't be sure what exactly it did.

The next sixth months were rather uneventful. Naruto's Taijutsu increased by leaps and bounds. In the end, they hadn't found a style really suited to him, but trained him in several different styles that he felt comfortable with. During spars, he would change styles on the fly. The randomness of his mixed styles worked well with the Naruto's unpredictable behavior. His chakra control, while still poor, was advanced enough for the water walking exercise. Much to Naruto's dismay, Jiraiya had refused to teach him any new jutsu until he had demonstrated the ability to perform each jutsu he knew flawlessly with exactly the same amount of power 30 times in a row. Naruto could barely make it to ten. But where Naruto's training was paying off the most was his skill with seals. His homemade explosive tags packed almost as much power as the ones you could buy at most ninja supply stores, and his storage seals, while nowhere near as good as Jiraiya's, took up less space and held more than they did before.

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Thirteen Days ago:_**

Naruto was excited, tomorrow was his first day at the academy and this morning Jiraiya had decided that Naruto was ready for the "secret" skill that would help Naruto train while he was at school. "Okay Naruto, let's try one more time before bed, you almost got it the last time." Unfortunatley it looked like he sucked at it.

"But I thought it was a _cool_ jutsu! I suck at clones!"

"How much chakra are you putting into it?" Jiraiya had figured that Naruto's overabundance of Chakra would make learning this jutsu easy.

"As little as I can, just like with the normal Bunshin, why?"

"Because, if you were paying any attention, you'd have realized that I said this was a chakra _intensive_ Jutsu. Go ahead and use as much chakra as you want." Jiraiya expected that Naruto could pull off three or four clones at a time so telling him to go all out wouldn't cause a problem. Boy was he wrong.

"**_KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"_**

**A/N: And cut! So that was my first attempt at writing an action seen, how'd I do?**

**Ciao**

**Xahn777**

**A/N 2.0 Beta'd By TheCookieMonster777**


	7. VI: School Starts

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Thirteen Days ago:_**

_Naruto was excited, tomorrow was his first day at the academy and this morning Jiraiya had decided that Naruto was ready for the "secret" skill that would help Naruto train while he was at school. "Okay Naruto, let's try one more time before bed, you almost got it the last time." Unfortunately, it looked like he sucked at it._

"_But I thought it was a cool jutsu! I suck at clones!"_

"_How much chakra are you putting into it?" Jiraiya had figured that Naruto's overabundance of Chakra would make learning this jutsu easy._

"_As little as I can, just like with the normal Bunshin, why?"_

"_Because, if you were paying any attention, you'd have realized that I said this was a chakra intensive Jutsu. Go ahead and use as much chakra as you want." Jiraiya expected that Naruto could pull off three or four clones at a time so telling him to go all out wouldn't cause a problem. Boy was he wrong._

"**_KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"_**

**_Road to Konoha Present Day:_**

"Wait just a second Jiraiya! You taught a seven year old the Kage Bunshin! Are you insane?" The fact that Tsunade had latched onto _this_point, instead of say the fact that the kid leveled a quarter mile of terrain by _clapping_, amused Jiraiya to no end.

"I never even got to the good part, Hime. Anyways, the kid has a crap load of chakra-the jutsu was practically made for him! Besides if you'd have let me finish you'd have seen that I was right," Jiraiya mumbled to himself, "too right really."

"Jiraiya-sama, how can one be too right?" Shizune had heard Jiraiya murmur to himself.

"Well if you'd let me continue telling the story…"

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Thirteen Days ago:_**

"**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"**There was a cloud of smoke and when it cleared the training ground was filled with copies of Naruto, packed shoulder to shoulder. By Jiraiya's rough calculation there was almost a thousand copies of the young blond.

Blinking in surprise Jiraiya said, "Well kid, you certainly have a lot of potential…"

**_Road to Konoha Present Day:_**

"Surely you're exaggerating, Jiraiya, a thousand?" Tsunade interrupted. "I mean, to be able to make that many clones and not _die_ he'd have to have _twice_much chakra as you, and that shouldn't even be possible! What do you feed him?"

"No, I'm not. Three times actually. Apparently it is. Ramen, lots and lots of ramen-seriously the kid can eat three times _my_ body weight in one sitting! Now stop interrupting me! You were doing so well before, it's hard to tell a story when you keep getting interrupted."

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Thirteen Days ago:_**

"How do you feel kid? You just did something that not even the Hokage can do. Hell I couldn't make _half_ as many clones as you did."

"Really? Once you told me to pump my chakra into it, it was easy! I'm not even that tired! Training with my eye is more tiring than this!"

"Dispel all of the clones but one, and I'll show you the secrets of this technique." After Naruto did as he was told, Jiraiya took the clone a distance away and hid behind a tree with him. Placing his hand on the Naruto-clone's shoulder, he said, "Naruto, you have the most potential of any ninja I've ever met. Your father would be proud of how much you've grown in such a short time, I certainly am." Then he punched the clone in the face, dispelling it instantly. Walking back to Naruto he asked, "So did you notice anyth-oof!" Naruto had tackled Jiraiya and was currently sobbing into his stomach.

After a few moments Naruto calmed down, "Did you really mean it ero-sensei?" (Naruto had finally found out what his sensei did when 'researching' things for his books and refused to call him anything without attaching 'ero' to it). Blinking as the end of the conversation nudged the joy Naruto felt at his sensei's pride, Naruto started to scowl, "Did you really have to punch me so hard?"

"Well, Naruto what do those two things tell you about this jutsu?" Jiraiya questioned Naruto, hoping that the blond would be able to put two and two together by himself for once.

"Err…that it only takes one hit to dispel a clone?" Seeing Jiraiya's expectant face Naruto scrunches his own up in his thinking pose. "Um…um… that when a clone dispels I learn what it did?" Jiraiya decided to let that sink in on its own and watch the fireworks. Suddenly Naruto's eyes went wide, "THAT'S SO COOL! TRAINING WILL BE SO EASY NOW!" Naruto was hopping around in circles doing his 'victory' dance. Still shouting Naruto continued, "I'M GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS! THANK YOU ERO-SENSEI!" Naruto had returned to hugging Jiraiya around the middle again.

"Before you go to school tomorrow make, oh I don't know, 400 clones. I'm going to split them into four groups and have each group do something different. Now Shadow Clones can only transfer _mental_progress, so that means you still have to exercise. You can't make clones do it for you. In fact, I'm upping your physical exercises to four hours of exercise and two hours of sparring against your clones every day-you need more practice fighting superior numbers. On the bright side, 'muscle memory' is technically mental so you can learn new styles of Taijutsu, but you'll still need to get your actual body used to fighting with them. So the way I'm dividing up your clones is 100 for Taijutsu practice, 100 for Ninjutsu practice, 100 for fuinjutsu practice, and 100 for your nature transformation practice. It is the first step in being able to truly master a jutsu; at the moment Kakashi will help you with lightning and water, but wind users are really rare here in Konoha-I'm not sure the one that I know of, who still lives here at least, is interested in teaching you, so you might have to figure it out on your own, sorry. Now go to bed, it's late and you have your first day at the academy tomorrow."

**_Road to Konoha Present Day:_**

"You taught him nature transformation at seven? How many Jonin level techniques does he know?" Tsunade decided that she shouldn't be surprised by what Naruto had learned, or how fast he learned it.

"Yeah, it's actually part of a new teaching method I was experimenting with. First I teach a single elemental jutsu of the element that they have an affinity for. Then I drill it into them until they have it down perfect so that they have an understanding of what the element they're trying to master feels like. Then, I teach them pure nature transformation, then a couple of more advanced Ninjutsu, with a more complicated shape transformation, and when they master those, I teach them pure shape transformation." Jiraiya continued walking, letting Tsunade reach the inevitable conclusion by herself.

"You mean….you taught him Rasengan? Has he mastered it? Has he perfected it yet?"

Smirking Jiraiya replied, "Well, you'll just have to wait and see."

"I hate you sometimes, Jiraiya."

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Twelve Days ago_**

Naruto was so excited he barely slept; as soon as his alarm rang he leapt out of bed and pulled on his trademark orange jumper.**"Do you really, have to wear that much orange, Kit?"**

Ignoring Kurama, Naruto packed his stuff, and ran to Jiraiya's room. "Ero-sensei! It's time to wake up! C'mon! Wake up!" Grumbling, Jiraiya got out of bed and began to get dressed.

"Quiet down, Brat. You'll wake the whole damn neighborhood!" Still half asleep, Jiraiya staggered out of his room. "Meet me at Training Ground Zero. Make your clones and wait for me, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Naruto got there in two minutes flat. He made his clones separated them into four groups and began pacing the training ground, waiting for his sensei to show up. After five minutes he was planning on shouting at Jiraiya, after ten minutes of waiting he wanted to kill him instead.

"Sorry I'm late brat, I couldn't find your present."

Naruto immediately forgot his plans of vengeance, "Present?" He seemed to teleport across the training ground, stopping directly in front of Jiraiya, eyes shining like the sea. "Did you say present?" Naruto held his hands out expectantly.

"Sometimes I forget you're not even eight yet, brat." Placing a smallish rectangular box in Naruto's hands, he said, "Open it up, I'm sure you'll love it, it's very useful." Naruto opened the box; inside was a dark blue headband holding a pair of silver framed goggles. "Very useful things, goggles; keeps things out of your eyes, like wind, water, and dust. Plus you can wear them like a hitai-ate which is good practice for when you become a real ninja. And look here, see that? Touch that seal and it activates the built in telescopic lenses, neat, huh?" Seeing tears in Naruto's eyes, Jiraiya thought Naruto didn't like the present. "Sorry, if you don't like them I can return them and get…" Naruto cut him off and gave him a large hug, strapping them on as soon as he was done.

"Thanks, Jiji, it's the best present anyone ever gave me."

Giving Naruto's hair a friendly ruffle, he pushed Naruto's shoulder, "Get going. I'll get your clones started. You don't want to be late for your first day, do you?"

Smiling widely Naruto ran off, waving over his shoulder, "Bye ero-sensei! I'll see you after class today!"

Naruto made it to the academy with plenty of time to spare. In fact, he was one of the first to make it to the academy-there was a quiet girl with black-blue hair in the back, who was watching Naruto without him realizing it, a boy in a fur lined coat in the middle, who was currently asleep, and in the front there was a boy, whose dark hair looked like a duck had landed on his head, who was clearly brooding. Sitting in the window seat next to him Naruto said, "Lighten up duck-hair, it's the first day in the academy! You should be happy!"

"Hn."

"Come on! Smile! Aren't you happy?"

"Hn."

"I don't know about you, but I've been looking forwards to this day since I was four!"

"Hn."

"You know it's amazing how many uses for 'hn' you have. You're a wonderful conversationalist!"

"Go away, you orange freak."

Naruto pretended to fall off of his chair, "Kami! Don't scare me like that! I thought you were a mute. My name's Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be Hokage one day, believe it! What's your name duck-hair?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha…Uchiha…aren't you from the clan with the spinning eye thing? I heard your eyes can see chakra and use it to predict people's moves! Is that true? That sounds so cool. I wish my eye did something like that-it just makes things blow up most of the time…"

"Ignoring you won't work will it?"

"Nope! Jiraiya-ero-sensei says I'm the most stubborn person he has ever met!" In the back, the quite girl giggled.

"Fine. Yes, my clan possesses the Sharingan, and yes, it can see other people's chakra, but I don't know from personal experience, now go away."

"Naruto! Is that you?" a voice Naruto hadn't heard in almost a year called from the front classroom door. Looking up Naruto saw his old friends Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. Shikamaru strolled over to Naruto, at what those who knew the lazy Nara would call a dead sprint, "Where were you for the last ten months! I haven't seen you since before your birthday!"

"Um…stuff happened on my birthday, I'll tell you the story later. It's complicated and we don't have time right now." Turning to Choji, Naruto blinked at his friend's new headwear. "Um…Choji… why are you wearing your underwear on your head?"

"What? I'm not! It's a bandana!" But Naruto wasn't paying attention anymore; the prettiest girl he had ever seen had just walked into the room. She had long pink hair and large jade green eyes. She was wearing a knee length, short sleeved red dress, slit up to the waist on one side, over dark green leggings that ended just below her knees. Naruto was in front of her before anyone could blink. "You're pretty, what's your name?" The quiet girl frowned at this; she had hoped the blond would notice her.

"You think I'm pretty?" the pink haired girl looked mildly surprised at this, "What about my forehead? It's huge!"

"Um," Naruto said turning his head sideways, "I didn't notice it."

"My name's Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you." Smiling Sakura held out her hand for Naruto to shake, 'He's not half bad,' Sakura thought. 'He's no Sasuke-kun, but at least he thinks I'm pretty.'

"Alright class, listen up!" called a new voice, which belonged to the tallish man with black hair, done up in a spiky ponytail, wearing the standard dark blue shinobi uniform, with the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, and a green, Chunin flak jacket. "I SAID LISTEN UP!" The noise level in the class dropped immediately. "My name is Umino Iruka! I'll be your Sensei for the next four years! This guy," He pointed to a similarly dressed ninja with silver hair covered by a bandana, "is Mizuki; he's the secondary instructor for this class. Class begins now."

Naruto was never so bored in his life. Iruka-sensei seemed nice enough, but his lectures on ninja history were boring and he knew everything Iruka had to say about Chakra theory. There were a few times he wanted to correct Iruka's take on chakra theory, but Naruto had realized that Iruka was dumbing it down for the kids who had never heard about it before. Finally the bell for lunch rang and Naruto ran off to buy himself lunch.

Heading to the outdoor eating area, Naruto saw Shikamaru and Choji and headed to sit with them, "Hey guy's what's up?"

"Nothing," said Shikamaru.

"OM NOM NOM." Choji was eating and unable to speak.

"Oh! Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto say the pink haired girl walking in their general direction, waving her over he said, "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Sure, thank you Naruto-san."

"Just Naruto is fine Sakura-chan!"

"Hey Naruto, mind telling us why you went missing for almost a year?" Shikamaru asked, "We were worried."

"Well, I tried to find you on my birthday but a mob attacked me…"

"No way? Really?" Choji looked at Naruto with shock, "Why would a mob attack you?"

'A mob attacked him?' Sakura thought, 'Oh, no! He seemed so nice! Don't tell me he's the reason…'

"It's complicated, and technically a secret," Naruto said in-between mouthfuls of food.

"Well, what happened? Choji and I were looking all over the place for you for months! You could have told us where you were!"

"Sorr-AGCK!" Naruto had thought his food tasted a little funny but now he couldn't breathe.

"Naruto! What's wrong?" Choji asked of the gasping blond

"Kami! Someone get a nurse he's turning green!" Sakura shouted. Naruto had started foaming at the mouth.

Shikamaru noticed the slightly green tinged foam, "I think he's been poisoned!"

**A/N I know I said Naru/Hina, and trust me I still plan on it, but he did have a crush on Sakura first, so wait a little while to start flaming me please.**

**A/N 2.0 Beta'd By TheCookieMonster77**


	8. VII: Sakura's Secret

**_Road to Konoha present day:_**

"He was poisoned on his first day at the academy?" Tsunade was _furious_ that someone would try to kill a seven year old three times in less than a year.

"Yeah, wasn't the last time either, the Brat's made of iron."

"How could someone do something like that?" Shizune used poisons in battle but she would never poison a child. She couldn't believe someone would do it not once, but multiple times.

"We managed to catch one of the perpetrators eventually. It was the same one who hired Zabuza."

"You said _one of_-there was more than one?"

"Like I said, the only reason _I_ haven't razed Konoha myself yet is because the Brat likes it for reasons even I can't fathom at the moment."

"Jiraiya-sama, what happened next?"

"Well…"

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Twelve Days ago_**

Naruto woke slowly; his mouth felt like someone poured glue down it. "Water," he gasped.

"Here you go kid." Naruto turned his head to see Jiraiya sitting next to him, a thunderous scowl on his face. "I came as soon as your clones dispelled." Well, that explained Naruto's splitting headache. "Someone put enough poison in your food to kill the entire school."

Naruto's eyes bugged out, "How'd I live?"

"Apparently it wasn't enough to kill you. Your stomach must be lined with iron."

"**I helped Kit."**

'Thanks Kurama, I owe you one' Naruto sent back. "Kurama says he helped."

"I guess he would…regardless, tell him I said thanks." Jiraiya walked towards the door. "I have … things … to take care of. It's late, get some more rest. You'll need it for class tomorrow and you'll have to make some extra clones to catch up with your training."

"'Kay, good-night Ero-Sensei."

"Good-night Brat"

**_Konoha: Four Years, Ten Months, Eleven Days ago_**

"Naruto! What are you doing here? The medics said they didn't think you'd make it, there was supposed to be enough poison to kill 100 people in your food!" Choji was surprised to see Naruto, here first thing in the morning, looking as energetic as he always did.

"Yeah Naruto, I was with the medics when they were pumping your stomach, you should be dead!" Sakura was glad to see Naruto alive.

"You really are troublesome, aren't you?" despite his choice of words, Shikamaru was glad to see his friend alive.

In the back of the classroom, Hyuuga Hinata rubbed her puffy eyes. She had cried herself to sleep last night, thinking Naruto had been killed, but here he was right in front of her, laughing and joking like he did yesterday, like nothing had happened! She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Oi, Duck-butt, what did I miss yesterday?" Naruto plopped onto the seat he had sat in yesterday, right next to Uchiha Sasuke.

"Duck-butt?" Sasuke couldn't believe someone would call anyone that, let alone him, the last of the Uchiha!

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Hn."

"So, what did I miss?"

"Um… y-y-you c-can look a-at m-m-my n-notes, i-if y-you like." Naruto turned to look at the speaker; it was the quiet girl from the back of the class.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?"

"H-H-Hyuuga, H-H-Hinata," Hinata managed to stutter out, while slowly turning red.

"Thanks Hinata-chan! Hey are you feeling alright? Your bright red! Do you have a fever?" Naruto placed a hand on her forehead, causing the shy girl to pass out.

"Oh no! Is she alright? Was she poisoned too?"

"You really are an idiot, aren't you Fishcake?" Sasuke decided that if the orange idiot was going to give him an insulting nickname he would return the favor.

"What are you talking about? She passed out! That can't be normal. Someone needs to get her to the nurse!"

"She'll be fine Fishcake."

"Fine then, I'll take her to the nurse myself, Duck-butt!"

Naruto picked Hinata up and carried her, bridal style, to the nurse's office. Partway there Hinata woke up, 'Is N-N-N-Naruto-kun c-c-carrying m-me?' she thought.

"You okay Hinata-chan? You worried me," Naruto asked Hinata when he felt her stir. Hinata promptly passed out again. "Huh? She must be really sick."

Hinata came back to class just before the second lesson started. Naruto handed her her notebook and a piece of paper covered in writing, "Here's your notebook Hinata, and here's a copy of my notes. I hope you are feeling better now." Not trusting herself to speak Hinata nodded her head and went back to her seat.

It was lunch time and Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura were all sitting together again.

"How are you feeling today, Naruto?" Sakura asked the hyper-active blond. "Should you even be here today? I mean yesterday you were poisoned, shouldn't you be getting some rest?"

"My stomach's made of iron! It'll take more than a little poison to put me down!"

"Naruto, there was more than a _little_ poison in you food yesterday." Shikamaru gave Naruto a pointed look, "did you do anything to make sure it doesn't happen again?"

"Yeah my lunch is from home and I sealed it in a storage seal, locked with a blood seal. I'd like to see them open it!" Naruto twisted the top off of a bottle of water.

"Wait, Naruto! Where'd you get that water from?" Sakura asked, worried about her new friend. But it was too late. Naruto had gulped down the entire bottle, and was already turning green. "You bought it from the cafeteria didn't you? It was poisoned wasn't it? How stupid can you be?"

"But it was sealed… I thought it would be safe…ugh… I'll be right back" Naruto rushed to the bathroom and proceeded to be heartily sick. Naruto managed to stagger out to the academy training grounds just in time for afternoon classes, today's being Taijutsu, followed by weapons practice before going back inside for Naruto's least favorite class, Chakra theory.

'Naruto-kun doesn't look good again, did someone poison him again?' Hinata wondered.

"He's still here? If it was me I'd use being poisoned as an excuse to go home," the lazy Nara mumbled.

'Wow, Naruto's tough, I wonder how he does it.' Choji was impressed by the blonde's resilience.

Mizuki waved Naruto over to him. "Okay Naruto, since you missed yesterday, I'll teach you the basics of the academy style Taijutsu. Here take this stance…" Mizuki demonstrated the technique correctly, but with a clearly sloppy base stance of the academy style.

"Um… Sensei, your form is sloppy, your feet are too close together, and your arms are too far apart. You should do it like this." Naruto demonstrated the correct stance, his feet exactly the right distance apart and his arms in the perfect position. He could have been a picture from a Taijutsu scroll.

'Damn, I guess I can't sabotage this part of his education….' Mizuki thought to himself. "Ah… well," Mizuki sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "it's been years since I used the academy style and this is my first year as an academy instructor. How'd you get so good at the academy style? Your form's even better than Iruka's!"

"Ero-Sensei taught me! I spent two hours a day for the past year drilling in it, and it's pretty simple really. I know a few other styles, but I'm not as good at them…"

"Um…Naruto, why do you call your sensei a pervert?"

"Because he is one! His hobby is peaking on girls at the hot-springs! He has no shame! So I call him ero-sensei, and I'll keep doing it until he stops." Mizuki sweat-dropped at this and decided that he really didn't want to know, a move that he would regret in the long run.

"If you really are better than me at the academy style why don't you help some of the other students?" Iruka interrupted Mizuki and Naruto. "Haruno Sakura needs some help, so does Aburame Shino."

"Okay Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cheered, and rushed off to help Sakura.

The rest of the month went by like this. Naruto was poisoned in a variety of ways. Sometimes they'd manage to get to his food, other times it was poisoned pins stuck in his school bag, once it was a blow dart to the back of his neck. Despite being continuously sick, Naruto refused to give up. In the afternoons Naruto would help those who were having difficulty with the academy style, and then he would spar with Iruka-sensei, or occasionally Mizuki-sensei. He, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura had become good friends, until one day…

**_Konoha: Four Years, Nine Months, Ten Days ago:_**

It was lunch time when it happened. Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Choji were all eating together.

"Hey, Naruto, you never did tell us what happened on your birthday that made you disappear like that," Shikamaru reminded the blond of the subject they were discussing before he was poisoned the first time. "So, are you going to tell us or not?"

"Well I was attacked by a drunken mob during the festival." Naruto began, but was interrupted by Sakura.

"Festival?" Sakura was worried. Something terrible had happened to her during the festival that celebrated the defeat of the Kyuubi. "Naruto, just when is your birthday?"

"October tenth, why?"

'Oh, Kami… please tell me I'm having a nightmare.' Sakura thought, 'It can't be him, he's too nice for it to be his fault… please let it be someone else.'

"Anyways, I was attacked by this drunk mob, and they chased me all over Konoha. I had to jump, well fall, off of a roof to escape from them at one point, but they caught me when I ran into a dead-end alley."

Sakura was terrified of what he might say next, "N-Naruto, what h-happened next?" nobody seemed to notice her stutter.

"Well the bad men had cornered me and I really thought I was going to die," in his mind Kurama interrupted him, '**Kit, you weren't even awake at the time!'**Ignoring Kurama for the moment, Naruto continued his story,**"**But the Hokage and Jiraiya of the Sannin saved me! I can't really remember what they did, cuz I passed out from blood loss before Jiji finished talking but I bet it was super cool!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! HOW COULD YOU!" Tears streaming down her face Sakura stood up, "I NEVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PRETENDED TO BE MY FRIEND YOU MURDERER!" Sakura was heartbroken-to believe that _he_ was the monster that was responsible for her father's death. She fled, sobbing, hiding in the bathroom stall with tears streaming down her face as she thought, 'Why did it have to be him? He was so nice to me! Was it all some sick plot to hurt me as much as he could?'

Sakura didn't return until after Naruto's eighth birthday came and went. And when he saw her again she gave him the cold shoulder, pretending he didn't exist. Instead of hanging out with Shikamaru, Choji and Naruto, she joined the other girls (except Hinata) in fawning over Sasuke.

**_Konoha: Four Years, Eight Months, Twenty-One Days ago:_**

"I don't see what's so cool about Duck-butt…why are the girls all over him?" Naruto asked a few weeks after the 'incident' as Naruto called it.

"Probably because he's 'dark' and 'mysterious' and Naruto, even you can't deny he's strong. He beats you six times out of every ten in Taijutsu practice and your better than the teachers!" Shikamaru pointed out.

"What does Sakura-chan see in him?" Naruto pouted, ignoring Shikamaru.

"I spoke with Ino-apparently Sakura's father was part of the mob that attacked you."

"I know, I feel terrible, but it's not my fault! I didn't ask to be nearly murdered on my seventh birthday! I even apologized to her but she won't listen to me!"

"It's troublesome, but all you can do is wait. Give her time-I'm sure she'll want to speak with you again." As Shikamaru was speaking the bell rang for the next class. "Come on, Naruto, it's time for class, maybe you can take some of your frustrations on Sasuke's duck-haired face."

"Good idea, Shika! Beating Duck-butt always makes me feel better!" Grinning like a maniac Naruto sped off.

"Troublesome blonds…"

Once again, Naruto was Sasuke's sparring partner. After the first week no one in the class really wanted to fight either of them while using the academy style. Iruka and Mizuki could beat both of them, but only while using their preferred Taijutsu styles.

"Yo, Duck-butt ready to get your ass kicked?" Naruto taunted, while bouncing lightly in place.

"Hn." Naruto had gotten quite good at understanding Sasuke's lack of speech; this one meant something along the lines of, 'You won't get the chance to touch me, Fishcake.'

"Is that so, Duck-butt? Bet you fifty ryo I get first blood!"

"Hn." Or as Naruto heard it, 'You're on!

Soon as the match started they fell into the familiar pattern of kicks, punches, spins, jumps, and dodges. They sparred so often that they knew each other's moves almost by heart. Naruto was so familiar with Sasuke's Interceptor Fist style that he felt he could recreate it on his own, while Sasuke, as strange as it sounds, understood how Naruto's mind worked so that he was able to predict seventy-five percent of Naruto's moves and dodge the other twenty-five.

"Why are you always so emo, Duck-butt? You're the top in the class in almost everything, all the girls love you, and if you have even the slightest difficulty with something Mizuki is over here in a heartbeat to help you with it!" Naruto had been wondering why Sasuke was always so depressed, but whenever he tried to find out he got responses like, 'None of your business Demon!' and, 'Why so you can kill him too?'

"You mean you don't know? My family is dead! I'm the Last Uchiha! We were once the largest clan in Konoha!" Sasuke answered, scowling in between blows.

"My family's dead too! I'm the last Uzumaki-there were so many of us thirty years ago we had our own village! It was razed during the third shinobi war! Only my mother survived! And she died an hour after I was born!" Naruto understood the pain of being alone, but he couldn't understand why Sasuke let the pain overwhelm him. Sasuke had so much good in his life-why did he ignore it?

"Was your family murdered? Mine was killed right in front of me! By someone I trusted!" There were tears in Sasuke's eyes by now.

"Well, technically my family was murder right in front of me by someone I trust, but I was a newborn when it happened, and he was under a Genjutsu when he killed my parents," at this point Kurama interjected, **"Aww, You trust me?"**Naruto sent back a mental nod, not trusting himself to split his attention three ways during this match. "So, I guess I don't know exactly how you feel, but I know enough," Naruto paused while he trip kicked Sasuke, finally catching him off guard, "to tell you," he continued while punching his downed opponent before he could get back up, "that, yeah your life sucked, but at least you haven't spent the last year dodging assassination attempts daily!" Sasuke had gotten up, his lip bleeding, all tactics forgotten, he charged Naruto with a mad look in his eyes. "Look Sasuke," Naruto was now effortlessly parrying Sasuke's enraged attacks, "yeah your parents were killed, but at least you got to know them, I never met my parents! Sure, they got taken away from you, but you got, what? Six years with them? I got an hour! An hour I can't even remember!" now Naruto was on the verge of crying. "You gotta look past the pain, Sasuke, remember the good times! And if you ever want someone to talk to about it, come to me, I'll be there for you when you need me." Sasuke stopped his mad attacks, he pulled something out of his pocket, pegged Naruto between the eyes with it and stormed off.

Rubbing his forehead, Naruto bent down to see what Sasuke had thrown at him before he left. It was a fifty ryo coin.


	9. VIII: Iron Sharpens Iron

**A/N I had some real trouble with this chapter, I needed something to use to pass time from the academy to the start of the manga, but I was drawing a blank so this is mostly a filler chapter with very little dialogue, it will cover from the end of the last chapter to the end of the third year. I apologize if you find this boring.**

**A/N 2.0 Beta'd By TheCookieMonster77**

**_On the Road to Konoha Present Day:_**

"Poor kid, the girl he likes blames him for her father's death." Shizune had been sniffling since Jiraiya had told that part of the story.

"I'm more concerned about the poison, when did it stop? You weren't clear on that." By this point, the only reason Tsunade was going back to Konoha was for the kid.

"It took them three years to realize that they made him immune to poison in the first month," Jiraiya was grinning at this. After all, being immune to poisons was a huge plus for ninja. "After a while, Naruto stopped caring. We were lucky all the real assassins had been warned off by Zabuza. Apparently the person who sent him after Naruto had broken a major rule by giving him false and misleading information."

"What about that shy girl you mentioned, the one with the obvious crush on him, did he ever notice her? Or did the pink haired girl stop hating him?" Shizune seemed particularly interested in Naruto's love life. Jiraiya was proud.

"How long was the Uchiha in the academy for? I'd think they'd let him graduate after a year, two at the most."

"Actually, that's an important part of the story…"

**_Konoha: Four Years, Eight Months, Nineteen Days ago:_**

After the incident with the 50 ryo coin, Naruto's relationship with Sasuke turned into a full blown rivalry. Each trying to prove that they were the better ninja, they sought to outdo each other in everything.

Their Taijutsu spars were the stuff of legends in the academy. Eventually it became impossible for the teachers to declare a victory, although Naruto and Sasuke seemed to have some way of keeping score themselves. The battles would start as soon as the bell rang and only end when class was over. As time went on their individual strengths and weakness became clear. Sasuke was much faster than Naruto, and every fight he seemed to get faster still. After a few months it was rare for Naruto to get the first hit, and by the end of the year, Naruto would only land three or four blows. But that was all Naruto needed to land, because what Naruto lacked in speed, he made up in raw physical power. Sasuke was good at reading his opponents movements, even those of someone as unpredictable as Naruto. Naruto was good at improvising, making up complex plans on the fly changing from one plan of attack to another as soon as Sasuke figured out what he was doing. Naruto was a stamina monster. After the first three fights where Naruto beat Sasuke simply by outlasting him, Sasuke worked on becoming more and more efficient in his attacks and defense, always moving the least amount needed to avoid a blow, never throwing a punch or kick unless he was sure that it would do some damage, or as a part of a plan. Sasuke took his, comparatively, tiny pool of stamina and stretched it as far as it would go.

In the second year at the academy, they began learning the basics of Ninjutsu. Naruto had a lot more experience than Sasuke, especially when it came to actual Jutsu, but Sasuke was a natural, his fingers longer, thinner and more flexible than Naruto's. He quickly used his natural speed and flexibility to catch-up to, and then surpass Naruto in terms of hand seal fluidity, allowing him to theoretically fire more jutsu off faster than Naruto. Naruto's physical stamina carried over to his chakra as well. While Sasuke could cast more in a short period of time, Naruto could keep casting long after Sasuke died of chakra exhaustion.

There were two areas that Sasuke had a clear lead over Naruto in, Genjutsu, which Naruto lacked all but the most basic skills in, and the actual school work. Naruto was still having difficulty with written tests-he would read questions wrong put answers down in the wrong spot, or just completely blank out. The fact that Sasuke had him beat in these two things drove Naruto nuts, and ensured that Sasuke kept the number one spot in the class.

Sakura had changed the most, but not in a good way. After the shock of finding out that Naruto had a hand in her father's death, she seemed listless for weeks, before seemingly deciding that the best way to get Naruto back for the pain he caused her was to devote herself to his eternal rival Sasuke, becoming one of his many fangirls-always cheering the loudest when Naruto lost, punching him if he tried to talk to her, and ignoring him the rest of the time.

It was official, Hinata hated Sakura. At first it was just a little jealousy, because Naruto liked Sakura and barely seemed to notice her, but after Sakura trampled Naruto's heart in the mud, she wanted to kill her. If only she had his confidence… maybe there was something she could do about that.

Shikamaru and Choji were largely unchanged, still the same middle of the road average. And neither of them were really interested in being more than that.

**_Konoha: Three Years, Four Months, Two Days ago:_**

Sasuke was frustrated-no matter how hard he tried Naruto was always right behind him, always pushing, never letting him rest on his laurels. And worst of all, despite their similar painful pasts he was always cheerful. It drove Sasuke mad-why were they so different and how was Naruto so strong if he was so happy? Sasuke had given up everything in his quest for vengeance and Naruto seemed dead set on proving that you could be happy and strong at the same time.

So Sasuke found himself stalk-following-Naruto around in an attempt to find out just what Naruto's secret was. So far Naruto had just wandered around Konoha for an hour, only stopping to eat a prodigious amount of Ramen.

"Is this all he does? How is he so strong if he doesn't actually train?" Sasuke mumbled under his breath.

"It's not his training time for another 37 minutes and…45 seconds" Sasuke nearly jumped a foot when he heard a soft voice directly behind him.

"H-Hinata? Are you following me?"

"No, Naruto"

"Um…" something she had said just clicked in Sasuke's mind, "I have to say, the fact that you Naruto's schedule down to the second is creepy."

"He has the same schedule every day, it's not hard."

"Um… Normally you stutter a lot more…"

"N-N-Naruto i-i-isn't h-h-here," Hinata said blushing crimson.

"I see… so what does he do next?"

"He goes to Training Ground Zero. Follow me." Hinata led Sasuke after Naruto. Sasuke was impressed, she followed him like a ghost. Sasuke wasn't even sure that he would ever notice her if she was following him. Eventually they came to a blasted wasteland that stretched from one edge of Training Ground Seven to a ravine almost half a mile away. The fact that Sasuke couldn't remember anything like this being on the maps of Konoha he had seen was lost by what filled the training ground. There were _hundreds_ of Narutos grouped into tens and twenties, each group doing something different.

"So, what did we learn today guys?" Naruto spoke to his copies, "You all know the drill, disperse in groups of ten with ten second breaks in between." Naruto sat down in a meditative pose as the copies dispersed. Half an hour later when the last group disappeared in a puff of smoke, Naruto stood up, "Oh, so _that's_ what I was doing wrong! Okay now that that problem's solved let's get to work on the next bit, yeah? Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Once again there were hundreds, if not thousands, of Narutos in the field. "Alright guys get back to work!"

"A Bunshin Jutsu? That's Naruto's worst jutsu!" Sasuke stayed the entire time Naruto was there, watching him, trying to figure out what drove him. He came back twice a week.

**_Konoha: Two Years, Eleven Months, Seventeen Days ago:_**

Uchiha Sasuke was nervous, and he hated being nervous. The civilian council had summoned him to its chambers for an 'important' meeting. But the council wasn't here-instead of the usual twenty members of the civilian council there were only three. At the head of the table sat the three elders. In the center was the bandaged Shimura Danzo, whose lone cold eye sent shivers up Sasuke's spine. On his right was the bearded and bespectacled Mitokado Homura. On Danzo's left was the sour faced Utatane Koharu. Sasuke couldn't figure out what he'd done to get summoned by the elders.

"We called you here to discuss your outstanding success in the academy," Danzo began, his voice flat and emotionless. "We wish to invite you to join a special subgroup of ANBU."

"Of course you will graduate at the top of your class; you need not worry about getting the rookie of the year award." Koharu reassured Sasuke.

"You may take the Chunin exams at later date if you're not satisfied with a field promotion. By joining you are not disqualifying yourself from anything." Homura said in a bland, bored voice.

Sasuke blinked in shock-they wanted him to join ANBU! He must be doing something right-Itachi was 13 when he joined ANBU- and he was only nine! But, he only really started to get strong because of Naruto. What if it was _Naruto_ that made him strong? "Does this offer apply to Uzumaki Naruto as well? Academically he's not that far behind me, and we're pretty evenly matched in terms of skill; he's slightly better at Taijutsu while I hold the edge with Ninjutsu. If you think I'm worth recruiting surely Naruto is as well." If his rivalry with Naruto was the secret to his growth, he wouldn't give it up for the world.

"Unfortunately, no, it does not. And even if it did, his guardian has made his desires very clear to us-Naruto is to stay in the academy until he graduates at a normal age," Danzo answered for the council, his unnaturally cold voice gave Sasuke the creeps.

"Then I am afraid I must decline your generous offer."

"What!" Koharu screeched jumping up from her seat, "What does that demon have to do with advancing your career? From the power you so clearly desire!"

"My rivalry with Naruto has taught me a few important lessons. Do you know how he got to be as good as he is? I asked his sensei, Jiraiya-sama, one day, what Naruto's secret was. Do you know what he said? 'Hard work and lots of it.' I followed him one day to see just how hard he trained. Did you know he uses a technique that would kill anyone else to maximize his training? He uses 2000 Kage Bunshin to practice what he knows, and he does this every day before the academy and he can still out last me in any chakra related exercise."

The council watched silently as the revenge obsessed boy raved about his rival, Homura and Koharu shared a look and a thought, 'Is he gay?'

Seemingly ignoring the odd looks the council gave him Sasuke continued, "That's one thing I learned, just from watching him-the value of hard work. Before I met him I thought I was a hard worker, but I never seemed to get stronger. After sparring with Naruto on a regular basis and seeing how his strength grew too, I realized something else, something that you want to take away from me. Iron sharpens iron; without Naruto to push me, I won't get stronger." Sasuke stood up and walked out of the council room.

"Did he just _turn us down_?" Homura blinked in shock. "We really need to remove Naruto if we want to proceed with our plans."

"Why don't we kill him ourselves?" Koharu grumbled. "Sure, he seems to be immune to poison, probably because of that damn fox, but I bet he's not immune to beheading."

"No, that would be too obvious. Then we would have to deal with Jiraiya, and he's already snooping around," Homura pointed out.

"I will deal with them myself," Danzo's cold voice brought the conversation to an end.


	10. IX: The Last Year

**A/N Beta'd By TheCookieMonster77**

**_Road to Konoha present day:_**

"Jiraiya, how do you know all that, surely you weren't there during their conversation. You aren't just making things up now are you?" Tsunade was skeptical about his information on the elder council's meeting, especially the bit after Sasuke left.

"Hime, I'm a spymaster. Almost nothing goes on in Konoha without me knowing about it."

"Jiraiya-sama, why didn't you stop the poisonings yourself then?"

"Just because _I_ know who's doing it doesn't mean I have enough physical evidence to stop them. Besides, I didn't want to make martyrs out of them by just killing them myself. I needed a court to find them guilty, to show others that Konoha considers it a crime to poison children, no matter what they hold inside of them."

"So what happened next?"

"Well, I guess the next really important thing happens just before the start of Naruto's last year in the academy."

**_Konoha: One Year, Eleven Months, Nine Days ago_**

"Hey, ero-Sennin, what are we doing all the way out here?"

"Well Kid, since you finally mastered your nature transformation, and are about to start your final year in the academy, I thought a celebration was in order."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain the ginormous barrel of sake you're carrying."

"Well its part of your gift."

"I hope you don't expect me to actually _drink_ that much sake! I could _bathe_ in it if you wanted."

"You'll see. Just wait till we get to the top of this hill." A few minutes later they came to a large clearing on the large flat top of the hill; it was bisected by a large waterfall and surrounded by trees. "Ah here we are! It's out of the way enough to be private, but it also overlooks the second best peeping spot in the whole village!"

Crossing his arms Naruto scowled at his sensei, "I seriously hope you don't expect me to join you in watching the women bathing, you pervert!"

"I'M NO PERVERT! I'M A…"

"Super pervert. I know, I know, we've had this conversation before," Naruto interrupted Jiraiya before he could get going. "Now, what are we here for ero-Sennin?"

Placing the large sake barrel he had been carrying over his shoulder on the ground, Jiraiya said, "Pay attention, this is part of your gift!" Jiraiya bit his thumb, drawing blood, and began to form hand seals, calling the name of each one as he made them. "Boar… Dog…Bird…Monkey…Ram, KUCHIOYSE NO JUTSU!" Slamming his hands on the ground, Jiraiya summoned Gama, Keeper of the Toad Summoning Scroll, and Jiraiya's good friend. "This is the summoning scroll for the toad contract. I believe it's time for you to sign the contract like your father before you. Congratulations, you've earned it!"

Ever since Jiraiya-sensei (Naruto would never admit to thinking of him like that) had summoned that large scroll Naruto's eye itched. Now if it was his right eye, the one with the purple band in his iris he wouldn't be surprised, but this was his _left_ eye the normal one, and as the itching grew to a burning Naruto became worried. "It's making my eye itch, are you sure it's a good idea?"

"I can't see how it could hurt. Now bite your thumb and write your name in blood on the contract, then make a hand print of your right hand underneath your name."

Jiraiya unfurled the scroll to the first empty spot, right underneath the name of Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato. Seeing his father's name, Naruto swallowed and approached the scroll, still ignoring the burning in his eye. Naruto bit his thumb and wrote his name, all the while his eye was burning. As he made his hand print three red tears fell from his eye landing right next to his hand print. Bringing his left hand to his face he brushed the moisture from his cheek, 'I'm crying tears of blood again, I wonder what it means…' Naruto thought. "Hey, ero-sensei is something wrong with my eye?" Naruto turned to Jiraiya and looked at him with now matching eyes.

"Your left eye matches your right eye now, kid…" Jiraiya stared at Naruto's now matching multicolored eyes. 'The first time his eye changed when he was nearly killed, but his second eye changed when he signed a contract scroll? And that color, why do they remind me of…No…it can't be, I'm imagining things,' Jiraiya thought to himself. Out loud he said, "Put as much chakra into the summoning as you can. I want you to summon Gamabunta, the toad boss, on your first try. The sake is for him, to commemorate you signing the contract."

Naruto bit his thumb, made the hand-seals, slammed his hands on the ground and tried to force as much chakra as he could into the summoning. Oddly he felt nothing; no matter how much chakra he poured into the jutsu, nothing seemed to happen. His chakra just seemed to swirl around, going nowhere. Just as he was about to admit defeat and ask Jiraiya what he was doing wrong Jiraiya spoke from behind him.

"K-K-Kid, j-j-just how much ch-ch-chakra did you put into that?" Noticing Jiraiya's stutter Naruto felt a ball of dread grow in his stomach. Turning around and looking up, Naruto's jaw dropped-they were surrounded by toads! Hundreds and hundreds of toads, from tiny tadpoles to the mighty Gamabunta, every toad on Mount Myoboku must have been summoned here.

Mouth opening and closing like a fish, Naruto finally managed to squeak out a single, "oops?"

"We're going to need more sake," Jiraiya croaked.

"Ah, Jiraiya, it seems you have found him at last," a giant, wrinkled, grey-brown toad with squinted eyes and a large, oddly shaped square hat and a necklace with the kanji for oil on it was the first to speak.

"Are you sure? What are you doing here? Surely he couldn't have summoned _all_ of you!" Jiraiya stared at the surrounding toads, wondering just what had happened.

"The call we answered was both more ancient and binding than the one written in the scroll."

"W-w-what do you mean?" Naruto managed to stutter out.

"Walker of many roads, you bear the gift of the one who made us long ago. When you call, we are honor bound to answer you-no blood or chakra may be taken from you to summon us, young summoner. All you need to know is _how_ to summon us-information contained in the seals on the scrolls of summoning. Find the scrolls, sign them, and the summons bound to the scroll will answer you. Any summon will obey you, even if you haven't signed its scroll. BUT!" The Ogama Sennin raised its voice, "Remember this, for the long journey ahead! There are many roads often tread lying before you! Ignore them and make your own path! Break the cycle, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto! Free us from the chains of hate encircling the world!" the Ogama Sennin closed his eyes and drifted off, soon he was snoring peacefully.

"Does he just fall asleep like that often?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Only after he's gotten himself worked up over something, brat," A large rust colored toad, with a scar next to one eye and bright red markings around his eyes, lips and the top of his head. He was wearing a blue happi coat, with a tanto style blade sheathed at his hip and a pipe the length of a three story building hung from one corner of his mouth. "Name's Gamabunta, Bunta for short. I'm the toad boss. I see you brought some sake-not nearly enough but Jiraiya's always been a cheapskate."

"YOU'RE THE SIZE OF A SMALL MOUNTAIN! YOU COULD DRINK A LAKE OF SAKE!"

Ignoring Jiraiya's outburst, Gamabunta continued, "I'll send some toads back to Mount Myoboku for some more sake. We're celebrating tonight." Needless to say, three hundred drunken toads make a hell of a racket. By the time the party was over, the hilltop was completely trashed, Konoha hadn't gotten any sleep, and there was a large mob looking for Jiraiya to kill him for something he couldn't remember doing.

"I'm never drinking again…" Naruto staggered back to his apartment clutching his head, gently bumping against walls, lampposts, small animals, other people and the occasional purple elephant. "I swear, I'm never drinking again, if I never see another purple elephant in my life it'll be too soon."

"P-p-purple e-e-elephant? A-a-are you a-a-alright N-Naruto-kun?" A soft voice stuttered from behind him. Unknown to him, Hinata had followed him and Jiraiya last night, silently cheering when Jiraiya had offered him the scroll, crying when she saw his eye bleeding, and cheering again when he got his second eye. Of course, when the toads where summoned she almost fainted, but when she heard his _real_ last name, she actually fainted. When she woke up, the party was raging all around her, the toads seemingly oblivious to her presence and Naruto and Jiraiya were too drunk to notice anything odd about her being there-although Jiraiya _did_ wink at her when he saw her staring at Naruto. She stayed the night, watching the drunken antics of her crush and his godfather, laughing at the reveling toads, wishing she had the courage to join them. "Y-y-you d-don't look so w-well, do you, n-need any h-help getting h-home Naruto-kun?"

"Hm, oh, look it's Hinata-chan, are you really here this time? I thought I saw you at the party last night, but there was a pink elephant next to you so I guess it was the sake…" Naruto was wobbling as he tried to remain vertical. "Ugh, I feel like someone put me through the spin cycle….." Naruto seemed to tip forward in slow motion, Hinata wasn't fast enough and he crashed right into her, knocking them both to the ground. Seemingly unfazed by their predicament, or perhaps he was still drunk, Naruto latched onto Hinata's waist and pulled her into a hug his face resting on her shoulder. Hinata, blushing so hard she seemed to glow, passed out with a faint, 'meep.'

Naruto woke slowly. He didn't remember his pillow being _this_ comfortable, and as he snuggled deeper, his pillow let out a small 'eep.' Suddenly wide awake, Naruto jumped back almost six feet, finally noticing that he wasn't, as he had first thought, in his bedroom, but in one of the small alleyways that he took to get home. "H-H-H-Hinata-chan, I-I-I'm s-s-sorry! I d-d-didn't hurt you d-d-did I?"

Still blushing crimson, Hinata managed to squeak out, "n-n-n-not a-a-at a-a-all! Y-y-y-you w-were the p-perfect g-g-gentleman! Y-y-you didn't do a-a-anything I-I-I d-d-didn't w-want you to d-d-do." Realizing what she just said, Hinata managed to blush _harder_ before running off.

Naruto on the other hand _still_ hadn't managed to put two and two together yet, despite almost _half_ of Konoha (the half that didn't plot his death regularly) having hinted it to him several times, even Hyuuga Hiashi, in a rare moment of benevolence, had tried to hint to the thick headed blond how his daughter felt about him. "Ah man, Hinata probably hates me now…" dejected and finally sober Naruto dragged his feet on his way back to his apartment, "hopefully I can make it up to her somehow, I'd be really sad if she hated me…why do I always have horrible luck with women?"

**_Road to Konoha Present day:_**

"He really is clueless isn't he?" They had stopped for a quick lunch and Tsunade was taking the opportunity to ask Jiraiya questions.

"I have never met anyone thicker than he is. The sad part is he thinks he was _bad_ luck when it's the opposite-the Brat's literally the luckiest person alive. Once, he walked past a gambling house and every slot machine in the place hit the jackpot at the same time. After that, I took him to a gambling hall to see if it was just a freak accident, kid got twelve jackpots, won at the roulette wheel seven times, and won so many poker hands, despite not even knowing how to play, that we got kicked out. We were allowed to keep our winnings though, on the condition that he doesn't come within 3 miles of the place again."

"Now I want to heal him so I can take him with me…" Tsunade had ryo signs in her eyes. And she was practically drooling over how much money she could win with the kid.

"Was Naruto's last year in the academy peaceful Jiraiya-sama?"

"No, actually it was the most eventful."

**_Konoha, One Year, Ten Moths, Twelve Days Ago:_**

Naruto was excited! It was his last year in the academy and in ten short months he'd finally be a real ninja, one step closer to his goal of becoming the strongest Hokage ever. Maybe he could make rookie of the year! He'd love to see the look on Sasuke's face if he managed to steal the award from him. After racing through the streets on his way to class, Naruto skidded through the door to his classroom. "Aw man! How do you three beat me here every time!" already sitting in the class room was Duck-butt, Dog-breath (his other rival, Inuzuka Kiba) and Hinata-chan, "I ran as hard as I could!"

"N-N-Naruto-kun, the Hyuuga C-C-Complex is a two minute w-walk from h-here."

"Hn." To Naruto's trained ears that was, 'After I figured out you were trying to race me I started sleeping on the roof.'

"My Mom makes my get here two hours before the academy even opens….."Kiba grumbled.

"Arf!" Kiba's hood barked

"Oh, hello to you too, Akamaru!" Kiba's partner, Akamaru, popped his head out of Kiba's hood. Barking again, Akamaru jumped onto the table, his tail wagging. "Who's a good puppy? You are, yes you are!" Naruto cooed while scratching Akamaru behind the ears.

"He's a puppy, not an imbecile, Naruto!"

"Hey Naruto, what happened to your eyes?" Looking up Naruto saw his first two friends Shikamaru and Choji.

"Hey guys, you noticed fast! And I have no idea what happened or if it even does anything different from my right eye." Naruto said cheerfully. Sitting down together, the four friends (and Sasuke) chatted about their vacations and what they did. Naruto would have loved to tell them about the toad contract, but Jiraiya-sensei had told him not to tell anyone yet. "And then, he fell down the stairs covered in pink paint and quacking like a duck!" Naruto was telling them of the many pranks he pulled that summer. "Best part was he woke up half an hour later and had no clue what had happened! They had his face on wanted posters for a week!"

"Quiet down class!" No one seemed to notice the voice from the front of the class room. "I SAID QUIET DOWN CLASS!" Iruka sensei used his infamous 'Big-head no jutsu' and silence descended on the class. "Better. Today we start your fourth and final year in the academy!" Iruka said cheerfully. "During the first half of the year we shall finish our studies and the second half of the year will be devoted to practicing and reviewing all we have learned in the past three and a half years."

It was a tough year for Naruto. His test scores steadily dropped from middle of the class towards bottom rung-it seemed that the harder he tried the worse he did. By the four month mark it was clear to Naruto that he couldn't even get rookie of the year in his dreams now. By the eight month mark it looked doubtful that he would even pass.

Finally the day of the final exam arrived, and Naruto had decided to release some stress with the most awesome prank he ever pulled. The Hokage monument had been painted with a dizzying variety of colors and patterns, and next to the fourths head there was a painting of a chibi Naruto giving the peace sign with a speech bubble proclaiming, "Space Reserved For Uzumaki Naruto, Future Hokage!"

"Yeah, I'm a bad ass!" Naruto muttered to himself triumphantly as he put the finishing touches on his handiwork.

"NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! YOUR FINAL EXAM IS IN TEN MINUTES!"

"Crap, it's Iruka Sensei; he always manages to find me!"

Iruka dragged a tied and gagged Naruto through the streets by his ear. "OI leggo I 'as n immug to mantan 'ere" Naruto tried to speak through the rope gag Iruka used to keep him relatively quiet.

Dropping Naruto on the floor of the classroom Iruka began, "Since _everyone_ is here now, we can begin our final exams. The schedule will be: four hours of written exam, then ranged weapons testing, followed by a three minute spar with Mizuki or me, and finally the three academy jutsu."

It was the hardest test Naruto had ever taken in his life-he was _sure_ they hadn't learned some of the things on it. Naruto was the last to finish and he had a splitting headache when he was done which impacted his performance on the ranged test. Instead of tying with Sasuke, like he usually did, he was fifth in the class. By the time of the Taijutsu spar, he was feeling better and was the only person in the class other than Sasuke to last the full three minutes against a sensei, although he could've sworn Mizuki actually tried to kill him once or twice during the spar. Finally, they came to the three academy jutsu. Everyone was sitting in their normal seats and was asked to do the three academy jutsu in front of the class. Finally it was Naruto's turn.

"Alright Naruto, begin"

"Alright time for the ultimate Henge! Orioke no Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke and instead of Naruto, there was an apparently naked buxom blond girl tastefully covered with smoke. Half the class passed out with a nose bleed (the male half). "I guess ero-Sennin was right! Women really are every man's weakness!"

"NARUTO! TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" Iruka screamed while wiping the blood from his face.

"But I am! I just knocked the entire male half of the class out with a simple Henge! I even proved that Sasuke wasn't gay!" Naruto said pointing to Sasuke who wasn't passed out, but clearly had a faraway look in his eyes and twin streaks of blood running out of his nose. "You should be thanking me! I just proved the Uchiha wasn't a lost cause!"

"Fine, for the …convincing…if unorthodox Henge, I'll pass you on this part of the test. Next the Kawarimi."

"Fine, fine, Kawarimi no jutsu!" Naruto switched with the handy log provided for this exercise. "All hail the Log" Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Pass, finally the Bunshin Jutsu."

"All right! Take a look at this! Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto made three perfect shadow clones.

"I can give you extra credit for that Naruto but it doesn't count towards your Bunshin grade." Iruka said after consulting the rulebook.

"What! But I can't do the normal Bunshin," Naruto exclaimed while looking panic stricken.

Mizuki did his best not to look smug, if it all went pear shaped, Iruka would be blamed for making the rule up. 'Serves him right for not noticing the Genjutsu I placed on the book.' Grinning slightly, Mizuki said, "Look he did three Bunshin, even if they were Kage Bunshin, and those are harder. We should pass him."

Iruka sighed, "I really wish I could, but the rules are clear. No Bunshin, no pass." Iruka honestly looked upset.

Inwardly Mizuki was dancing-Danzo would reward him quite well if he pulled this off.

It was later when Naruto was sitting on the swing, staring out into space. All of the passing ninja had already gone home. "Hey Naruto, don't give up hope yet! There's a group of ANBU that you technically qualify to join. All you need to do is pass the initiation test. You see, there's this scroll of seals in the Hokage's office that you have to get…"


	11. X: The Scroll of Seals!

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"How did he manage to fail with you teaching him Jiraiya?"

"I told you he was bad at Genjutsu, his test had a Genjutsu on it, and Iruka missed the Genjutsu on his rule book too. Boy was he was pissed when he found out."

"Jiraiya-sama did Naruto really steal the Scroll of Seals?"

"Was this the plot you said Danzo had?"

"One of them, yes, now shut up and let me tell the story, Hime!"

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"Naruto, what are you doing in my office?"

"Um…Um…Orioke No Jutsu!"

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"WAIT!"

"I'm trying to tell a story here Hime…"

"He beat sensei with his 'sexy' jutsu?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

_**Konoha Twelve months Fourteen days ago:**_

Naruto made it to the meeting ground almost 2 hours early. "Let's see what's in this scroll…." Naruto unfurled the scroll. "It's full of Kinjutsu! Did I grab the wrong one? This seems like an awfully dangerous scroll to retrieve for an initiation… Never know when I'll get another chance to look at this scroll better make notes." Naruto pulled a scroll out of his pocket and began writing down interesting looking jutsu. "Huh, the first jutsu is the Kage Bunshin and its derivatives, Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu, huh I didn't know that had a name, Bunshin Daibakuha, oooh _that_ that sounds fun, the ability to make my clones explode? Hell yeah! What else is in here? Crap. Crap. Why the hell would I want to do that? Okay, that's just gross. Edo Tensei? What's that..._Okay_ _that's just wrong! _ Is there anything _normal_ in here other than Kage Bunshin? Oh wait here's one, Chidori? Hm… isn't it that move Kakashi-ojisan refuses to teach me? the fourth put it in here, oh so that's why! You need a Sharingan to make it useful; maybe I'll save it for Sasuke." Naruto scrolled through Jutsu after Jutsu that killed you or did something gruesome to your enemies, often at the same time. "Well that was a bust… I learned one jutsu that I can actually use from the Scroll of Seals…" Naruto furled the scroll when he got to the end of the jutsu in the scroll. Then it hit him it. "The Seals!" Naruto quickly unfurled the scroll again opening it up to the sealed artifacts section, "Okay there's got to be something good!" after spending half an hour pouring over the sealed items he settled on Uzu no Tsubasa (The Wings of The Whirlpool) which was apparently covered Uzumaki style Fuinjutsu, the problem being that it absorbed the user's chakra to power it's seals, the last three people who tried to wield it were killed when it sucked their chakra completely dry. If you didn't have enough chakra to power the thing the first time you picked it up it would kill you. "Sounds cool! Let's try it!" Naruto wiped a bloody thumb over the seal, there was a poof of smoke and… "Well that's _not_ what I was expecting." At ten feet long, the weapon was easily twice his height, at each end there was a two and a half foot long five inch wide dark green blade, with silver edges and seals carved into the flat of each blade. From a distance the complex shape of each seal faded and blended together to form the shape of a wing the wing on one blade pointing in the opposite direction as the wing on the other. The narrow handle was wrapped in blood red leather, and was five feet long. "How the hell am I supposed to use this thing?" Forgetting that if he wasn't going to use it, he probably shouldn't touch it, Naruto bent down and picked up Uzu no Tsubasa, intending to seal it back into the scroll. What he got instead was excruciating agony as his chakra was ripped away.

"**What's going on kit?"** the chakra drain had woken Kurama up from his long nap, (**Hey, The academy is boring)**

"Stupid staff is eating all my chakra!" Naruto managed to croak out through the pain.

"**That **_**thing**_**! I thought they sealed it away!" **Kurama growled in anger when he saw the staff.

"They did, I kinda unsealed it…" Naruto would have sounded sheepish, if it wasn't for the fact that it had eaten half his chakra already

"**Feed it my Chakra until it stops."** Kurama began shoving his own chakra into Naruto, his distinctive Fox shaped energy shroud forming at two tails. The shroud held for all of three seconds before it too was sucked in. **"Okay, this is bad Kit, what were you thinking?"**

"That I have four times the Chakra of Ero-Sennin?" Naruto was sweating bullets now the staff had eaten more than three-quarters of his huge reserves and was still going strong, even with Kurama feeding it too. Just as Naruto thought he was going to die the chakra drain ended as suddenly as it started. Naruto collapsed in a heap, his body felt as if it was made of jelly, he had so little chakra left, that he was sure the only reason he was alive was that Kurama's chakra was still flowing through him, keeping him alive. "Thanks' buddy I owe you one." Naruto's palms itched, wondering why he looked at his hands; the Kanji _Tsubasa_ (Blades/Wings) glowed briefly on his palms before fading away like it was never there.

"**Next time leave the sealed weapons alone Kit, They're sealed for a reason."** Kurama groused, **"You look like shit Kit, get some rest."** Naruto drifted off for half an hour.

"_I found you Naruto!" _Iruka growled looming over the dozing blond.

"Iruka-sensei? Are you my contact? Mizuki-sensei said I had to give this scroll to the person who showed up here and I could join a secret Anbu subgroup!"

"Mizuki? ..." Suddenly, Iruka palm thrust Naruto across the clearing, getting him out of the way of a barrage of Kunai; Iruka wasn't fast enough to dodge them himself however. "Naruto run back to the Hokage tell him what happened."

"Give me the scroll Naruto." Gone was Mizuki's friendly demeanor from this morning, now he was cold, whether with hate or rage Naruto wasn't sure.

"Don't listen to him Naruto! The Scroll of Seals is full of dangerous Kinjutsu and deadly artifacts! He used you to get his hands on it!"

"There's no point in lying to you, I guess. OH! I know! There's something that everybody's been lying to you about!"

"Shut UP Mizuki! That's an S rank secret!"

"You killed Iruka-chan's parents did you know that? He _hates_ you."

"Oh, you're talking about the fox?" Naruto stood up shakily, faint flickers of red chakra coursing up and down his body, and "I thought you had a _real_ secret to tell me. I know _all_ about the Kyuubi No Kurama." Turning from the shocked Mizuki to equally stunned Iruka, "If we knew your parents were among the dead we would have apologized sooner, Iruka-sensei. Kurama was under a Genjutsu cast by a masked man with a Sharingan, he had no intention of destroying Konoha. Honestly, he's rather lazy."

Mizuki was shocked, as far as he knew Danzo-sama still believed that the boy hadn't found out about the fox yet. He had to get this information back to Danzo before it was too late. This could ruin _all_ of Danzo-sama's plans. "I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me to meet someone Naruto, Just as soon as I kill this meddler." Mizuki threw his oversized fuuma shuriken at the already injured Iruka.

Naruto managed to tackle Iruka at the last second possible. "Why?" Was all Iruka could get out.

"You were the only teacher who was nice to me." Still exhausted, Naruto called on more of Kurama's Chakra, His whisker marks thickened his nails lengthened and the blue part of his eyes turned blood red, and the pale purple turned a much darker shade of purple. Naruto's normally contracted pupils dilated and then _bent_ into vertical slits. The faint flashes of red that had surrounded him before thickened into floating balls of red Chakra and began to slowly coalesce into a solid shroud. Naruto raised his left arm, the kanji on his palm was glowing a sickly green. There was a whirling noise and Uzu no Tsubasa flew through the air and into his outstretched hand. Twirling it over his head Naruto charged Mizuki.

"Nice weapon, Demon. Shame you don't know how to use it. It'll make a fine trophy. Along with your HEAD!" Mizuki rushed in, only to be stopped by a flash of silver-green he narrowly avoided. Naruto had swept low, forcing Mizuki to jump to avoid losing his legs. Spinning the blade around his shoulder the other attack came at Mizuki from a high angle while he was still in the air. Mizuki managed to block the attack with a kunai, but the force of the swing was enough to send him crashing back to the ground. Standing up, Mizuki saw his kunai was almost cut all the way through.

'Shit this is bad.' Mizuki threw the damaged kunai at Naruto, who batted it out of the air. Pulling two kunai out Mizuki advanced cautiously this time. He managed to parry the first few attacks without damaging his kunai by making sure to only parry with the point of the kunai against the flat of the blade. But even though he was managing to keep his weapons intact, the superior range of Uzu no Tsubasa prevented him from getting close enough to directly attack Naruto.

Just as Mizuki felt he was getting used to Naruto's twirling style of combat, Naruto jumped backwards and changed his grip on his weapon; instead of holding it in the middle, like a staff, he held it at the back, like a spear. Despite the increased range, Mizuki was relived, 'he can't thrust as fast with one blade as he can swing with two. I've got him now!' Dodging out of the way of a thrust aimed at his head by tilting his upper body to the left, Mizuki began to close the distance. Dodging the next two thrust easily Mizuki's confidence began to grow, dodging the fourth and fifth attacks, Mizuki was almost in range.

Suddenly spinning his weapon around Naruto now held it towards the front. 'What's he up to? All that weight behind him will work against him.' Naruto seemed to over extend his last thrust. 'YES! He's mine!' Mizuki charged in raised his weapons for the killing stroke, and only barely noticed the smirk on Naruto's face before lightning bolts shot out of the handle and blade, stopping Mizuki in his tracks.

Once more twirling the staff over his head Naruto charged the semi-paralyzed Mizuki. Mizuki barely managed partially dodge and block the downward stroke meant to split him in half. This time however, instead of only cutting half way through the kunai he used to block, the Uzu no Tsubasa cut _all_ the way through, and through Mizuki's forearm behind it, _and_ through Mizuki's bicep behind that.

"AAAARRRRGH!" Mizuki was lying on the ground, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. His eyes widened as he saw the Uzu no Tsubasa descend, Naruto clearly meaning to decapitate him with this swing.

"Naruto stop!" Iruka grabbed Naruto's wrist through the chakra shroud, his hand immediately began to burn, but Iruka didn't let go.

"Why? So he can try to kill me again? Because he's more _human_ than I am?" Naruto's voice was deep and animalistic under the effects of his two tailed chakra shroud.

"Of course not! If anyone here's a monster it's _him_, but Naruto he might have valuable information." Iruka was still holding Naruto's wrist with his blackening hand. "At the very least, he's a traitor and being killed in these woods is more than he deserves. Take him back to Konoha and let the Third pass judgment on him." Naruto's Chakra shroud slowly died down.

"Sensei! Your hand!" Naruto finally realized what had happened to Iruka's hand. With tears in his hand he asked, "Why?"

"Because if you killed an unarmed prisoner, then you would have taken the first step to becoming the monster he wanted you to be."

"No I meant, why are you so nice to me? Even now knowing that I know about the fox, that I'm _friends_ with the fox, how can you be so concerned about me?"

"I saw a lot of myself in you Naruto. We're both orphans, both pranksters in the academy, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job as your teacher, if I had allowed myself to play favorites, you'd have been mine." Iruka collapsed, leaning against a tree, "come here Naruto I have a present for you." Iruka tiredly beckoned Naruto over to him. "Close your eyes." Naruto felt his goggles slip off then something else was clumsily tied to his forehead, "Sorry my left hands a little stiff." Iruka said while tying the knot. "Open your eyes."

Naruto opened his eyes to see a tiredly smiling Iruka, who wasn't wearing his hitai-ate anymore. "What is it?"

Holding up Naruto's goggles so he could see his reflection Iruka said, "I know it's not Anbu, but congratulations, you pass!" Iruka tried to stand but fell over, "Um…could you help me up?"

Naruto helped Iruka up, after making three shadow clones to tie up and carry Mizuki; together they headed back to town. "So do I really pass sensei?"

"I think what you did tonight deserves some extra credit don't you? Come on we need to find the Hokage, and then get me to a hospital." Coming out of the woods they found themselves surrounded by an angry horde of ninja.

"Oh bugger."

**A/N I'll give one Internet cookie to the person who can tell me where I got the design for Naruto's weapon from. And yes that terrible pun was intentional.**


	12. XI: Divergences

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"He defeated a Chunin before he graduated?"

"Hime he defeated an elite Jonin before he was a _ninja,_ I honestly don't see what's so shocking about that."

"He beat Zabuza with pure luck, and a Doujutsu, so that doesn't count. He beat Mizuki single handedly, with a weapon he hadn't been trained to use. _That_ speaks volumes about his actual skill level, and that trick he pulled to get Mizuki! I see why you like the kid Jiraiya."

"Yes he's a wonderful kid. Now we don't have much time before we get to Konoha, are you going to let me finish the story? We have quite a ways to go.

_**Konoha Twelve Months, Fourteen Days Ago:**_

"Oh, Bugger." They were surrounded, and the ninja didn't look like they were going to listen to reason. "If you'd just put your weapons down and let…"

"Kill the demon!"

"Look he's killed two academy sensei"

"Actually Mizuki's a traitor, and I'm still alive." Iruka managed to say, not that it seemed like anyone would listen to him.

"He's a monster kill Him!" Nope, not listening.

During the shouting the assembled ninja closed in on Naruto. But when they were ten feet Jiraiya managed to shunshin between the groups. "What's going on here?"

"He killed two academy sensei and stole the Scroll of Seals, now he's come to kill us all!" Jiraiya had to fight the urge to face palm, Iruka had managed to stand up by himself and was carrying the Scroll of Seals, while Mizuki was clearly rolling on the floor in pain whimpering to himself.

"Obviously you need to get your eyes checked." Jiraiya took up a combat stance, "I will not let you attack a Konoha-nin unprovoked. Especially when it's my godson, who just caught a traitor!"

"Jiraiya's siding with the demon! Kill him!" someone shouted from the back.

"Yeah! Kill him." Came another voice from the back

'Something's wrong here,' thought Jiraiya, 'no Konoha-nin would be that stupid. He's obviously trying to rile up the mob into attacking me. An assassination attempt? Danzo!' Now on guard for a surprise attack Jiraiya subtly moved, so anyone trying to back stab him would be right in Naruto's sights, the one person in Konoha he really trusted to watch his back. Quickly flashing some subtle hand signs he informed Naruto to be on the look out for surprise attacks.

"Ero-Sennin, should I make a path out?"

"No, we'll wait for the Hokage to come here. No fighting unless they attack first." The mob tried to come closer, but Jiraiya began to pour out killing intent, like it was water on a hot day.

As the mob began to back away the voices from the back called, "Cowards! We'll kill the Demons by ourselves" Three cloaked and masked Anbu shoved their way to the front of the mob. Drawing odd tip less tanto they began to circle Jiraiya and Naruto.

"They're Anbu Naruto. You can use that technique if you want. It's less likely to kill them then your new toy anyway." As he finished talking the three Anbu charged two going for him and one for Naruto. Easily dodging their swords Jiraiya delivered a crushing kick to one that sent him flying into the other.

"UGH." Naruto grunted in pain behind him, apparently the Anbu had tried to kill Iruka, and Naruto had stopped the blade with his shoulder. Seeing the 'Demon' injured was apparently enough of a motivation for the mob, they charged screaming battle cries and death threats. Before the Anbu could pull his tanto out of Naruto's shoulder a Shadow clone grabbed his arm holding him in place. The clone then held his hand out to, palm down, Naruto, who placed his own hand three inches below his clone's hand, palm up. "Let me show you a move I've been working on all year." Blue energy began to swirl in the space between their hands. "**RASENGAN,**" Naruto screamed while slamming the Rasengan into the Anbu's stomach. The force of the blow was enough to send the man flying into three others behind him.

Naruto was disappointed in the ninjas who were attacking him. They were _weak_ Sasuke was more than a match for them, hell even _Kiba_ was more than a match for most of them. But they didn't seem interested in giving up so he could respect them for that, not that it would stop him from breaking their limbs. After about five minutes of Jiraiya and Naruto kicking weakling ass. The Hokage himself arrived, flanked by fifty Anbu.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE MY SHINOBI FIGHTING AMONGST THEMSELVES!" the amount of killing intent Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage released was enough to bring _Jiraiya_ to his knees. "EXPLAIN YOURSELVES."

"The Demon killed two academy sensei and stole the Scroll of Seals, and then he attacked us!" an injured Anbu with a curiously spiral shaped wound on his chest shouted.

"You know, it's really annoying when people keep proclaiming your death right in front of you." Iruka, who still had the Scroll of Seals slung over his shoulder, said to Mizuki, who during the confusion had tried to crawl away on his hand and knees, Iruka had prevented his escape by the efficient method of sitting on his back.

"Obviously you need to get your eyes checked." The Hokage said flatly. Turning to Iruka the Hokage said, 'Since anything Jiraiya and Naruto say will be decried as lies by the majority of Konoha, tell me what the hell happened here?"

"As far as I can tell, this bastard," Iruka gave the whimpering Mizuki a thump on the head, "sabotaged Naruto's final exam. Then, with the promise of joining a secret Anbu subgroup, he convinced Naruto to steal the scroll of seals and bring it here. I found Naruto first and figured out hat had happened just before Mizuki showed up; Naruto beat him with some clever underhanded tactics. Then as we were dragging this guy back to Konoha proper, so you could pass judgment on his scheming ass, this mob showed up and attacked us, although those three Anbu," he pointed to three now bound and gagged Anbu, who had attempted to escape during his speech, "riled them up and attacked first."

"Gather the mob up and take them to T&I's lockdown for questioning. I'll _personally _see to it that these four," he gestured to the three bound Anbu and Mizuki, "are taken care off. Jiraiya, Naruto, come with me." After delivering his prisoners personally to a high security cell, and the tender care of Morino Ibiki, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Mitarashi Anko, The Hokage took Jiraiya and Naruto to his office. "Now Naruto explain to me what happened?"

After Naruto's long winded and rant heavy retelling of what happened that night the Hokage leaned several important things. One, Naruto's test was obviously sabotaged with a Genjutsu designed to make him answer questions incorrectly and give him a headache that would interfere with the next part of the test. Two, Naruto was a gullible idiot. Three Naruto had more chakra the Jiraiya almost five times the amount, even without the fox. Four, he had managed to not only unseal the Uzu no Tsubasa, but to use it effectively without any training. And five Jiraiya had managed to teach him Rasengan, a signature move of the Yondaime, second only to the Hirashin no jutsu in fame and power. Conclusion, Naruto needed more mental training, but was definitely shinobi material; it would be a shame to lose him because of the incident with Mizuki. "Naruto I have decided to uphold Iruka's judgment you pass, and as for capturing the traitor Mizuki, I am retroactively assigning it to you as a B-rank mission, depending on what information he has I may upgrade it to an A-rank. Dismissed." As they turned to leave the Hokage continued, in a warm grandfatherly voice, instead of his formal debriefing voice he had used earlier, "And Naruto, good job."

Smiling Naruto headed home looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow for the first time in almost five years.

Naruto woke at half past noon, looking at the clock he realized he only had fifteen minutes to get to the Hokage tower for his ninja registration card appointment. Pulling on his trademark orange jumpsuit and grabbing Uzu no Tsubasa he ran out of his apartment as fast as he could. After trying a variety of poses and face paints, all of which the Hokage refused to accept, he finally settled on a picture of him grinning wickedly with the Uzu no Tsubasa slung over his shoulders.

"Finally, Naruto, it took you long enough to take a normal picture!" the Hokage grumbled as he did the paperwork for Naruto's official registration.

There was a patter of small feet running down the hall just before the door to the Hokage's office burst open. "FIGHT ME OLD MAN!" skidding into the room was a small boy wearing what had to be the stupidest hat Naruto had ever seen, along with an overlarge scarf. Naruto wondered briefly if he should stop the kid before he hurt himself trying to fight the Hokage. But his decision not to interfere was rendered pointless, when the kid managed to trip over his own scarf and slammed his face into the floor. "Alright, who tripped me?" the kid looked up and saw Naruto sitting in the chair across form the Hokage. "It was you wasn't it!" he shouted while running at Naruto

Naruto grabbed the kid by his shirt and held him a foot off the ground. "You tripped over your own stupidly long scarf, brat. If I tripped you you'd know it."

As they were shouting at each other a man wearing the standard dark blue Konoha shinobi uniform with his Hitai-ate on a bandana and dark sunglasses stormed into the room. "Unhand him you fiend! That's the Hokage's Grandson!"

Naruto took a long look at the Brat, before gently setting him on the ground. Before the boy could do more than look smug Naruto punted him across the room. "Like I care!" Naruto decided that with his meeting done he was going to have a nice quiet day maybe have some victory ramen at Iciruka's. the main problem was that the brat from the Hokage's office had been following him for hours. "Okay, I've officially had enough, are you even trying?" he said to the kind who was trying to hide behind a sheet painted to look like the wooden fence he was standing next to. Unfortunately for him, he was holding it sideways and his fingers and toes were clearly visible.

"Wow how'd you know I was there?"

"I've been trying to ignore you for hours you really need to work on your stealth."

"You were able to see through my perfect disguises? The rumors about you must really be true! I'll tell you what, you teach me the jutsu you used to defeat the old man and I'll call you boss."

Needless to say the chance to corrupt the kid made him agree to it. He'd love to see the old man's face when the kid, Konohamaru apparently, used this techniques on him. "So what do you have against the old man anyways?" Naruto was quite curious about what would drive a little kid like Konohamaru into doing something as suicidal as charging the Hokage with a kunai.

"I'm named after the village, easy name to remember right?" Konohamaru looked sad as he began telling his story, "but no one ever calls me my name, it's always 'Honorable Grandson' or something, all they see is my grandfather. If I beat him and take the title of Hokage then they'll definitely recognize me as me! I would be free of the shadow of the Hokage!"

Naruto interrupted him with a bop on the head. "Idiot, Being Hokage is a lot more than that; it's not something that you can take. You have to earn it. That's why its my dream to become Hokage. If I ever become Hokage that'll mean I've proven that I'm the strongest ninja in the village, the best one to protect it. The Hokage has to be able to give up everything for the village! Even his life!" Naruto looked down, "or his son." He said quietly. "If you want to be Hokage you'll have to beat me! Become stronger than I am and prove that you'll protect the village better than I can and you'll become Hokage. But it's a hard road ahead, and there are no shortcuts on the way there."

"Found you!" looking up the saw the man from earlier, Ebisu, Konohamaru's personal tutor. "Come we have work to do, you must master hundreds of jutsu to even be qualified to be Hokage, and you'll never learn them without my shortcuts!"

"No way! Boss is a way better teacher than you! I already learned the technique he used to beat the old man! Watch this, Orioke no Jutsu!" Transforming into a brown haired version of Naruto's Orioke no jutsu and taking a suggestive pose he was surprised to see it do nothing to Ebisu.

"How perverted! You cant stay around that boy any longer! You've gotten dumber already!"

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!****"** Naruto surrounded Ebisu with clones, each clone then made the hand seal for the Orioke no jutsu, "Harem no jutsu" suddenly being surrounded by thirty nubile blondes was more than Ebisu could handle. He crumpled to the ground nose gushing blood.

"That was awesome boss! You defeated him with one move!" Konohamaru looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you're going to be Hokage and I want to be Hokage that menas were rivals, huh?"

"Nothing wrong with being rivals, I already have two other people who consider me there rival. One of which you could call my best friend." NArut waved as he left, "I got a busy day tomorrow, I need to get ready. Later Konohamaru!"

_**Konoha Twelve Months, Thirteen Days Ago:**_

Naruto was running late, he didn't want to put away his goggles; after all they were the best birthday present he ever got, but he wasn't sure where to wear his hitai-ate. After half an hour of tying it to random parts of his clothes and body, he settled for the standard on the forehead location and just pushed his goggles onto the top of his head. "I can't believe how late I am!" Naruto was the last person there other than Iruka-sensei. Naruto waved to his few friends as he came in. Noticing that Sasuke was looking more emo than usual Naruto decided to see what was wrong. "Oi Duck-butt what's wrong? We just graduated! You shouldn't look so grim!" but Sasuke was apparently so far into his own little world that he didn't notice.

"Naruto! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!" In the years since they stopped talking to each other Sakura's personality had devolved into pure mindless fangirl. Sometimes Naruto thought he saw flashes of the strong willed, courageous girl she used to be, it really broke his heart.

Ignoring her Naruto tried to look Sasuke in the eyes, but the angle was all wrong. Finally hoping on the desk in front of Sasuke, Naruto poked Sasuke in the forehead forcing him to look up at Naruto. Sasuke's eyes widen fractionally, "Naruto what are…" But unfortunately for everyone involved at that moment the student behind Naruto decided to stretch, he bumped into Naruto, knocking him forward, straight into Sasuke's face. "…you doing here?" Sasuke actually managed to finish his sentence despite the near fatal, at least as far as Naruto was concerned, kiss. Naruto on the other hand was rolling on the floor clutching his throat, his skin an unpleasant green color, the only noises he seemed capable of making were gagging ones. "Naruto, why did you have ramen for breakfast?" Sasuke asked the gagging Naruto, "I'm sure that can't be healthy. No wonder you're so short."

The rest of the class was shocked by Sasuke's non-reaction; 'maybe he really is gay…' was the thought of the majority of the males in the class. The women in the class room only had one thought at the moment, 'KILL!' They descended on the defenseless Naruto like a swarm of angry hornets.

Sasuke had propped the unconscious Naruto in his usual seat. "Please tell me that was a horrible nightmare," Naruto said to Sasuke when he woke up.

"The beating or the kiss?"

"Both?"

"Nope both happened."

"How can you be so calm? Or was that not your first kiss."

"I'm just glad you managed to pass. I was worried when you failed the other day. You're my rival; if you do badly I look bad."

While they had been talking Iruka sensei had come into the room and started calling the names of graduates and assigning them to teams. "Team seven will be, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto and Sasuke fist bumped at this piece of news. "… And…" the whole room was silent every girl in the room had their fingers crossed, the boys were smart enough to keep their mouths shut, Kami forbid they made a noise and the girls couldn't hear who was the third team member. "…Hyuuga Hinata."

**A/n Congratulations to Meck Viking for correctly guessing the source Final Fantasy IX, the Uzu no Tsubasa was heavily inspired by the butterfly sword from said game. One internet cookie for you good sir!**


	13. XII: Waiting for Sensei

**A/N To clear any confusion that there may be Naruto's Fourth Year was Sabotaged by Mizuki, whose skill at subtle text altering and headache inducing Genjutsu was good enough to fool Iruka, who has far more talent at detecting Genjutsu than Naruto. This chapter is pseudo-filler I apologize if you find it boring.**

_**Present Day Road to Konoha:**_

"Did you have something to do with the team formation?"

"That was actually all Kakashi. He pitched the idea as 'Team Doujutsu'. That and he said those three together would have no weak ranges; Hinata as close range Taijutsu specialist Naruto as mid range Taijutsu/Ninjutsu user and Sasuke as a long rang Ninjutsu specialist. He said he wanted to create the perfect team."

"And the council let him get away with it?"

"The council was putting a lot of pressure on Kakashi to train Sasuke; they were trying to get him to automatically pass Sasuke. When he flat out refused to skip his test, they tried to appease him by letting him pick the two he wanted to train in hopes that it would make him more likely to pass them. Besides by this point the council realized that they'd have to pair them up or Sasuke would be mad"

"What was Hinata's reaction?" Shizune interrupted; once more she seemed more interested in Naruto's love life than the politics and intrigue that surrounded him.

"Well…"

_**Konoha Twelve Months, Thirteen Days Ago:**_

"_Team seven will be, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata."_

A soft thump, from the back of the class, was heard over the sound of the crushed hopes of the girls in the class. Hyuuga Hinata had passed out when Iruka sensei had announced that she was the third member of team seven. "Oh, no! Hinata fainted again, will she be alright sensei?" The ever oblivious Naruto had rushed to the back of the class to help his new teammate up. When she woke up in his arms she fainted again. "She's burning up Sensei, shouldn't she see a doctor?"

"You really are an idiot aren't you Fishcake?" Sasuke was already getting fed up with the antics of his teammates. He hoped the constant contact as teammates would stop her fainting spells. Naruto, on the other hand, Sasuke believed there was no hope for. If he hadn't figure out how she felt despite four years of constant stalking, fainting, blushing, and stuttering around him, he probably would manage to misunderstand an 'I love you.'

"What are you talking about Duck-butt she could be really sick!" Naruto said while placing her on the bench between him and Sasuke.

"I-I-I'm f-fine Naruto-kun, don't w-worry about m-me." Hinata had woken up and was fighting her urge to blush and faint, 'I can't faint every time I'm close to Naruto-kun! I'm one step closer to me dream! I can't screw up now.'

After half an hour of waiting all of their classmates had been picked up by their Jonin-sensei. After an hour Naruto started banging his head on the table. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"N-N-Naruto, w-what's wrong?"

"He just figured out who our sensei is, no doubt. It took him long enough"

"WHY? Why? Why? Why?" Naruto was sobbing now. "Do I really have to spend every day waiting hours for that lazy slacker? Even Shikamaru gets things done faster!"

"Well it makes sense that he would want to train me, and he used to train you, before he got 'demoted' by Jiraiya, but why did he pick Hinata?"

"U-Um who are y-you talking a-about?'

"Hatake Kakashi, laziest Jonin ever, he's always at least three hours late to everything…" suddenly smiling Naruto continued, "which means I still have two hours to set a trap!" Cackling evil Naruto removed a sealing scroll from his pocket; the label read 'traps'. After opening the scroll, Naruto unsealed the contents revealing: several dozen spools of ninja wire, sixty feet of metal chain, a small mountain of kunai, various exploding tags, seven gallons of pink acrylic paint, ten gallons of orange paint, an industrial sized barrel of glue, a fifteen pound sack of glitter, five metal buckets, a five gallon can of cherry syrup, a crossbow with various quarrels including several with suction cup heads, a large bear trap, an actual kitchen sink, three rubber chickens, whoopee cushions of various sizes, a ninja log, three cinderblocks, four large rocks, various rubber bands including one seven feet across, a thirty pound sack of flour, a large stack of pre-made 'kick me' signs each with a different persons handwriting, including, Hinata noticed, both hers and Sasuke's, a twelve shelf spice rack crammed with various spices and powders, three coconuts, a large watermelon, thirty bags of balloons, a large anvil, an old boot, and finally there were eight identical thirty gallon drums, each with a different label; water, paint thinner, lye, oil, soap (liquid), milk (sour), bleach, and honey.

Staring at the mountain of stuff Sasuke said, "You carry all this around with you everyday fishcake?" Sasuke was suddenly glad he hadn't made an enemy of Naruto.

"Well duh, you never know when the opportunity for a good prank arises!" said Naruto cheerfully as he seemingly randomly began stabbing kunai into the ceiling and the walls.

As he worked Hinata asked, "W-W-What e-exactly are you g-going to do to h-h-him?" some of the things in Naruto's, admittedly impressive, eclectic pile of things could really hurt someone. It seemed rather extreme, after all Hinata was a patient person three hours of waiting didn't seem so bad.

Naruto had mad an intricate web of ninja wire on the ceiling, handing the end of it to Sasuke he said, "You'll see, here hold this for me Sasuke." Naruto began pulling random things out of the pile and arranging them in smaller piles. An hour and forty-five minutes Naruto's trap was almost done. Naruto tied a loop of ninja wire around a blackboard eraser, after dusting the eraser with itching powder; Naruto wedged it between the panels of the sliding door. Five seconds after Naruto finished his last check of the trap Kakashi opened the door, the eraser landed directly on his head.

Stepping all the way into the room Kakashi managed to say, "Well my first impression is…" before the rest of the trap went off, first was the pink paint, followed closely by a bucket full of glitter that landed upside down on his head, next the watermelon landed on the bucket, mildly dazed Kakashi stumbled forward a step, tripping the wire that set off the next part of the trap, the large loop of ninja wire under his feet pulled closed, dragging him upside down into the air. Bucket now hanging by his chin Kakashi glared daggers at them all, before he could speak the crossbow went of the suction cup tipped dart coated in glue, hit Kakashi right between the eyes, "I hate you all."

Sasuke wondered why Kakashi was glaring at him in particular, when he realized something _he was still holding the wire Naruto handed to him,_ letting go of the wire like it was on fire, Sasuke inadvertently set off the final stage of the trap. Kakashi, still upside down, dropped onto the bear trap which was sitting in the middle of a large puddle of cherry syrup. Kakashi stood up shakily, bucket back over his eyes bear trap lodged in the bucket, with his voice echoing inside the bucket Kakashi said, "Meet me on the roof _now_."

"_Fishcake I'm going to kill you!_" Sasuke growled at Naruto. He had thought the trap amusing, up until he realized he'd been set up as the fall guy.

"Did you see the look on his face? That was priceless!" Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing, "I haven't gotten anyone that good in ages!"

Hinata was trying hard not to laugh at what Naruto had done to their sensei, sure it was the funniest thing she remembered seeing in a long time but she had seen the 'kick me' sign taped to the back of the bucket, in what she would swear was_ her own handwriting_, she wondered how the blond managed to forge her handwriting good enough to fool herself. "N-N-Naruto-kun…how d-did y-you forge my h-h-handwriting like th-th-that?"

"Oh that's easy, I paint it."

"What do you mean fishcake?" Sasuke had noticed sign too.

"It's like making a seal. I treat each letter like it's a volatile seal that blows up unless I get it perfect, give me a sample to memorize and I can forge anyone's handwriting. Come on; let's get up to the roof."

On the roof Kakashi was fuming, he'd seen the eraser of course, and decided to humor Naruto. But instead of chalk dust it was itching powder, and it only got worse from there. Take for example the bear trap that had bitten into the bucket that had been on his head. Or the acrylic paint in his hair. It would take hours to get it out of his hair, he'd be damned if he had to ge ta hair cut because of this. After having to wait ten minutes they finally arrived on the roof. "Okay introductions first. Let's get to know each other."

"W-W-What do you mean s-sensei?"

"Oh you know likes, dislikes, hobbies, hopes and dreams, stuff like that"

"Why don't you go first sensei," Sasuke was trying to be polite after Naruto's attempted framing.

"Well… my name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes and dislikes are personal, dreams for the future hmm…you're too young to know what my hobbies are, there who's next?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kakashi's non-introduction, "He likes salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant and being lazy, he hates sweets and people who abandon the mission and people who abandon their friends he hates more, his hobbies are being late and reading porn in public, and he dreams of being three hours late to his own funeral." Naruto was looking smug at the light he shed on their sensei's personality. "Anyways My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and training! I hate having to wait,' he glared at Kakashi, "for anything, and people with no sense of humor. My hobbies are training and pranks I guess. My dream is to become the strongest ninja ever, and have the village finally acknowledge my existence, before electing me Hokage!"

Hinata was next, "M-My N-Name is H-Hyuuga Hinata, I like r-red bean s-soup and cinnamon b-buns and…"her voice trailed off and she looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eye before continuing, "I d-dislike shellfish, and hate b-bullies. I h-hope to become s-self c-confident and m-my d-dream is to ch-ch-change the way my clan is r-r-run when I b-b-become clan head. My h-hobby is p-pressing flowers I guess."

Sasuke went last, "Hn. My name is Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha, I like tomatoes, and hate traitors, I hope to kill the person who killed my clan, and I dream of rebuilding my clan. Hobbies? Training with Naruto I guess."

Kakashi was mildly impressed with Sasuke's speech, he sounded livelier then he expected, granted he was expecting nothing after the 'Hn.' Maybe he could stomach teaching them after all. "all right take the rest off the day off! We'll meet at Training Ground Seven at five in the morning for your final exam!"

"Oi Pinky! We already graduated! What do we need another test for?" Naruto jumped up at the mention of another test. He didn't suffer through four years at the academy only to fail now.

"heh-heh. You'll _love_ this. See this test has a sixty-six percent failure rate, twenty-seven of you graduated, after tomorrow there will only be nine. The rest have to repeat another year at the academy."

"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE FINAL EXAM THEY MADE US TAKE?"

"To see if you have the potential to be ninja's, tomorrow's test is to see who has the skill to _be_ a ninja right now." Kakashi stood to leave, "oh, and you might want to skip breakfast, or else you'll probably throw up." Kakashi eye-smiled at them, "sleep well," he said while waving over his shoulder.

As Hinata and Sasuke stood up to leave Naruto stopped them, "guys don't bother waking up till six, and make sure you eat breakfast early, if there's a chance we really will throw up the solution is to make sure your food digests before you get there. Kakashi-ojisan won't get there until nine at the earliest. I'll see you there." Naruto ran off to prepare for the next day.

_**Konoha Twelve Months, Twelve Days Ago:**_

Arriving at nine-fifteen, Naruto was the last of his team to get to training ground seven. "What's up? You guys sleep well?"

"Well enough Fishcake, what about you?"

"I slept fine what about you Hinata did you remember to eat?"

"Y-Y-Yes N-Naruto-kun, I slept v-very well, and I g-got to have a cinnamon b-bun for breakfast!" Hinata said brightly.

"Hey guys! Good morning!" Kakashi strolled into the clearing, humming to himself.

"Your late!" Naruto groused, half-heartedly, "So what's this big test?"

Kakashi held up two bells, "You have until noon to get one of these from me, the one who doesn't get a bell by noon, well" Kakashi said grinning wickedly behind his mask, "Not only do they fail they get no lunch and the ones who pass get to eat lunch in front of them while they're tied to this log tied to this log. Come at me with intent to kill or you won't pass." Perhaps not the smartest thing to say to this group but Kakashi was sure he could handle anything they could throw at him. "The test begins…Now"


	14. XIII: Bells

**A/N Really to me the canon part of the story, which I need to get to the good bits, is pain in the ass boring to write… I apologize if you lose interest in the story between here and the prologue.**

_**Konoha Twelve Months, Twelve Days Ago:**_

_Kakashi held up two bells, "You have until noon to get one of these from me, the one who doesn't get a bell by noon, well" Kakashi said grinning wickedly behind his mask, "Not only do they fail they get no lunch and the ones who pass get to eat lunch in front of them while they're tied to this log tied to this log. Come at me with intent to kill or you won't pass." Perhaps not the smartest thing to say to this group but Kakashi was sure he could handle anything they could throw at him. "The test begins…Now"_

They immediately scattered, each going in a different direction. Sasuke had decided to hang back and watch whoever attacked Kakashi first, so he could gather information and form his own plan of attack. Naruto paced in a small clearing, he knew he was outmatched. If Kakashi wanted to keep him from the bells, Naruto would have no chance, unless maybe he summoned Gamabunta directly above Kakashi… but then they wouldn't have a sensei to teach them. Hinata was deep in thought, she had never heard of two man teams, and knew that she had no chance what so ever of getting the bells on her own. Reaching the conclusion that this was a teamwork test, she went to find the others. First she found Sasuke, "Sasuke-san, we need to work together, we won't be able to take a bell by ourselves. The point of this test is teamwork not individual strength."

"There're only two bells, what if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong I'll go back to the academy."

"Naruto won't like that. But I'll go with you to find him. We can decide what to do when we find him" Bye now Naruto was cursing and banging his head against a tree so it wasn't that hard to find him. "You know if this was a stealth based test you'd have already failed right fishcake? Hinata thinks this is a teamwork based test, says she's willing to go back to the academy if she's wrong."

Never one to let others make the sacrifice when he felt he could shoulder the burden Naruto interrupted, "Hell no! I can go back! Without Mizuki-teme sabotaging my test I could get rookie of the year! I'll stay back!"

"I told you he wouldn't agree. Let's save this conversation for when we actually have the bells."

"W-What's t-the plan?"

"First of all Hinata-chan, what are your skills? I know Sasuke's well enough to make a plan with him, but I really know almost nothing about you." Naruto said, sheepishly rubbing the back of hi head.

"Um… I know the Hyuuga style Taijutsu, Juuken…"

"Well what does it do?"

"I-It can b-block an opponents t-tenketsu, but I can't s-see them yet…so I can't stop his chakra, but I can disrupt it I guess."

Grinning like a madman Naruto said, "Oooh I can work with that! Okay here's what we do…"

After half an hour Kakashi was getting bored, he had honestly expected someone, even _Hinata_, to have mad there wove by now. "Come out and fight me!" Kakashi sighed at Naruto's shouting. His hopes that Naruto would play it smart had completely evaporated; resigning himself to a boring one-on-one fight he hopped out of his tree and lazily strolled over to Naruto, still reading Icha-Icha Paradise.

"Think you can take me on by yourself?"

Naruto's palms began glowing with a sickly green light, the Kanji _Tsubasa_ glowing on his palms, "I don't need teammates to beat you! Not when I have this!" Clapping his hands together the green light began to form a summoning formula in mid air.

'Well that's new,' Kakashi thought as the ring in Naruto's left eye began to glow with a silvery light. The Uzu no Tsubasa appeared in a puff of smoke, grabbing it out of the air Naruto charged Kakashi. 'Well he's not bad with it, still boring though.' Kakashi had dodged several slashes and a thrust or two, with minimal effort while still reading his book. "Naruto you have to do better than that if you want to win."

"How about this!" Naruto swung his weapon at Kakashi's head.

Sighing Kakashi ducked the blow easily "You already tried…" Kakashi almost missed Hinata aiming a kick at his head. 'Oh! Either she saw the opening and decided to take advantage of it or they were working together for a while,' Leaning out of the way he expected the kick to sail harmless past his ear. Instead he felt ninja wire wrap around his arm and pull him towards Hinata's oncoming foot. 'Huh, well played Sasuke.' Kakashi thought after the blow connected. But before Hinata or Naruto could attempt to grab a bell, Kakashi yanked the wire still wrapped around his arm, causing Sasuke to come crashing into Hinata. "Maybe you kids have some talent after all," Kakashi said while he put his book away, "Well, don't just stand there. Bring It!"

Once again Naruto charged in head-first his blades whirling around him like a tornado, This time Kakashi saw his goal he was forcing Kakashi to keep his attention focused on him while Hinata and Sasuke got into their positions. Dodging a slash Kakashi turned to intercept Hinata's attempted Juuken strike to his lower back, but as soon as his focus was off Naruto, Sasuke wrapped his leg with ninja wire and pulled, and with his turn slowed Hinata managed to hit his thigh with her attack his turn slowed. Then Naruto sped up his attacks, managing to graze Kakashi's side, and forcing him to turn his attention back to Naruto and Sasuke who were working together seamlessly now, every time Sasuke managed to get him with his wires Naruto would land a blow, not a major blow, even bound Kakashi was too fast for that, more of a scratch, but combined with Hinata's Juuken strikes he was slowing down. After Hinata's fingers brushed the bells for the third time in ten minutes Kakashi realized that they were going to win. And he couldn't live with himself if three Genin managed to beat him. Sighing he managed to break away from the melee but as soon as his feet touched the ground again he heard Sasuke and Naruto cry out.

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"**

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**

Kakashi's lone visible eye widened in shock at the size of the fireball, he barely managed to Kawarimi out of the blast zone in time. "I can't believe I'm doing this against Genin…" Kakashi said as he lifted his Hitai-ate to reveal his Sharingan. "But, you leave me no choice if I don't want to kill you." Once again the three of them charged Kakashi. But with his Sharingan's near prescient abilities avoiding all of their blows became a piece of cake. The formerly complex series of weaving spins that Naruto used in his attacks, became simple slashes. Without the distraction of Naruto's blades it was child's play to dodge Sasuke's wires. And with out both of the screening her strikes Kakashi could beat Hinata with one finger.

"Damn it!" Naruto was sweating bullets. "Oi! Duck-butt, why can't you do that yet?"

"The Sharingan has to be unlocked to use, I haven't managed to unlock mine yet, I'm not sure why. There's no definitive way to unlock it, my brother's unlocked as soon as he put any chakra into his eyes. I've tried almost everything in the clan records. Short of genuine life threatening injuries, that is."

Panting Hinata said, "Every one in my clan is born with the ability to use their eyes. It must have been hard for your clan." Before resuming her attacks

"My right eye unlocked when I was almost murdered by a drunken mob, but my left eye didn't… The Toads!" Naruto's left eye began to glow as he prepared to summon the toads to help.

"Oh no you don't!" Kakashi rushed Naruto, landing his first real offensive maneuver by sucker punching Naruto, disrupting his concentration. Kakashi followed his punch with a chop to the back of Naruto's head, knocking the blond out.

"Naruto!" Both Hinata and, surprisingly Sasuke, shouted as the he hit the floor, unmoving, their reactions past that couldn't be more different. Sasuke went cold with rage, his move precise and lethal. Hinata on the other hand was furious; her attacks lost the timidity they had earlier, coming in fast and furious hands glowing from the amount of chakra she was pushing through them. But Hinata didn't have the boy's ridiculous levels of stamina, and was clearly tiring, but the few hits she managed to land before passing out _hurt._ After she knocked herself out from acute chakra exhaustion fighting Sasuke was a piece of cake. Blocking Sasuke's last attack, Kakashi countered with a kick that sent him crashing into a tree. Sighing tiredly as he lowered his Hitai-ate back over his eye, Kakashi almost missed Sasuke finishing the hand seals for his 'Katon: Gokakyu'. Kakashi avoided it by using the 'Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu' (Earth Release: Hiding Like A Mole Technique)

Panting tiredly Sasuke said, "Damn it where'd he go?" looking around he thought, 'above? To the left?'

He felt a hand grab his ankle, "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique/Earth Style Headhunter Technique)" Kakashi pulled him underground, leaving only his head above ground. "I'll see you later kid!" Kakashi said he went of to tie up Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata woke to the sound of an alarm ringing, "Finally awake Hinata?" Sasuke voice came from the ground to he left. "Do you have any idea how boring it is to be buried up to your neck for an hour?"

"Um, w-why am I t-tied up s-Sasuke-san?" Hinata was cocooned in ropes, tied to a training post.

"Because Kakashi wanted to bugger of somewhere instead of risking one of you two waking up and letting me out."

Just then Kakashi strolled up carrying three large bentos, "hmm… I guess I'm just going to have to eat all three of these in front of you!"

"I'm not hungry."

"I-I h-had a nice breakfast sensei."

"Oh? And why did you eat when I told you not too?" The air around Kakashi seemed to get colder, the lights seemed to dim and all sound died.

"Because, I told them to, Kakashi-ojisan." The smell of food had woken Naruto. "And you only told us that we would throw up if we ate."

"Well I really do hate having to say this to you guys." Kakashi looked sad, "but after what you three did…" Kakashi drew things out as long as he could, relishing the looks of defeat as long as he could, "You all pass! Congratulations!" Kakashi gave the three of them one of his infamous 'eye-smiles', "You three showed exceptional teamwork, I'm very proud of you. But tell me which of the three of you would have stayed back if I wasn't lying?"

The three of them shared a look.

_Grinning like a madman Naruto said, "Oooh I can work with that! Okay here's what we do…" Naruto said, "I'll do my best to keep him occupied with my Uzu no Tsubasa…|_

"_Wait your what, Fishcake?" Sasuke was confused he wondered what wings Naruto was talking about._

"_Oh! I completely forgot ot show you guys here look at this," Naruto clapped his hands together; left eye glowing, and the green summoning formula wrote itself in the air. Grabbing his overlarge staff sword and giving in a twirl over his head Naruto continued, "this is the Uzu no Tsubasa, ancient weapon that technically belongs to my clan, see along the blades? Those seals are in the traditional Uzumaki style." Naruto pointed to the seal formulas etched along the flat of the blade. " as I was saying, I'll use this to keep Kakashi distracted," he tossed Sasuke three spools of ninja wire, "I've seen what you do with ninja wire when you think no one is watching you Sasuke, I know you have a lot of talent with this stuff. Use this to try to bind his arms or legs, slow him down so there's a chance we can get a bell. Hinata you use your Juuken strikes to mess with his legs make it as hard for him to move as you can, I'll try to cut off the bells, Hinata you grab them if you can, I'll stay back if I have to."_

"_N-No, Naruto-kun, I'll stay back."_

"_It doesn't matter, Hinata-chan, if he actually sends one of us back I'm going with them."_

"_As much as it pains me to agree with Fishcake, if he actually wants to destroy whatever potential for teamwork he shouldn't be a Jonin-sensei. I'll stay too."_

"_So either we all pass or none of us do, Duck-butt? What about your vengeance?"_

_Sasuke shrugged, "It can wait a year."_

_Naruto's jaw dropped, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Uchiha Sasuke!"_

_Annoyed Sasuke said, "I've grown more sparring with you then I ever did before. Besides he looks lazy I bet I could learn more on my own then with him!"_

"All of us." They said in unison.

**A/N I know I'm not good at action scenes, I'd love some good advice on writing decent action scenes. But I hoped you enjoyed it anyways. **


	15. XIV: Team Building

**A/N This chapter was particularly hard, I didn't want to go straight to the Land of Waves arc, but I wasn't sure what to do.**

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"That was pretty brave of them," Shizune was inspired by the loyalty they had shown each other.

"That Hinata kid sounds talented, think she has any potential as a medic?" Tsunade figured that if she was going back anyways she might as well train a medic or two.

"Yeah, but she's not the only one, there's at least one potential medic on each team, you could start a class."

"So, what happened next?"

_**Konoha, Twelve Months, Twelve Days ago: **_

They arrived at training ground seven two and a half hours after Kakashi said to arrive and they still got there before him. "So what do you think he's going to make us do?" Sasuke asked Naruto.

"If its three weeks of teamwork exercises I'm going to break my foot off in …"

"N-Naruto-kun! He's coming!" Hinata interrupted Naruto before he could really get started.

"Well, Naruto, you're right, normally I would give you three weeks of team building exercises, before I even allowed you one D-rank. But after what you guys showed me yesterday I think it's safe to skip those for now, we still will go over some advanced teamwork and tactics exercises, but for now those are the side dishes." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out four slips of paper, handing one out to each of them and keeping one for himself, he said, "Naruto already knows what these are, but I figured an extra demonstration wouldn't hurt, all you have to do is channel your chakra into it like this," First Kakashi's paper crumpled itself, then it got noticeably darker, before finally it crumbled away, turning into rather soggy dust. "That reaction shows I have a natural affinity for lightning, water and earth. I am one of the rare three natural affinity ninja. Most Ninja only have one; two is less common than one but more common then three. Naruto if you please."

Naruto channeled his chakra into the paper, first it shredded it self, then as it was floating to the ground the paper darkened greatly, before crumpling itself into little paper balls. "Heh-heh, oops, mines a little over reactive." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Hinata bent down to pick up one of the little balls, "It's soaking wet!"

"Naruto is another of the rare three element ninjas; his are wind, water, and lightning." Kakashi turned to Sasuke, "Your turn." Sasuke's crumpled, his reaction nowhere near as severe as Naruto's or even Kakashi's, a second later it burst into flame. "Ooh an Uchiha with a primary element other than fire! This'll be fun! If you're a good boy I might actually teach you my Chidori." Kakashi was rubbing is hands together, a chance to pass on his one original technique! Maybe teaching the Uchiha would be fun after all. Finally he gestured to Hinata, her paper darkened noticeably, almost as much as Naruto's before slowly crumbling away. "Two, two element ninja's!" Kakashi was grinning under his mask this group had to be the most talent gathered in one place since the Sannin themselves! "Yours are water and earth, although your earth chakra is very weak, we'll have to work on that…" Kakashi thought for a moment, before saying out loud, "Well I know Naruto already knows how to do this, but it's good exercise anyways. So can either of you climb trees without your hands?" seeing the confused looks on their faces Kakashi gestured to Naruto, "Another demonstration please."

Rolling his eyes at his sensei's laziness Naruto took a casual stroll up the side of the tree, then out on the underside of the branch. "There, is that good enough for you?"

Nodding his head Kakashi went on, "Once you master this, you will move on to water walking, however this is an important exercise all of you, yes you too Naruto, will practice tree climbing for an hour every morning, followed by an hour of water walking, once you master it. After you can tree climb for an hour and then water walk for another hour I will teach you each a single jutsu from your element type and you will practice that until you have it down flawlessly. Naruto I believe it's time for you to begin working on seal-less jutsu, using the ones you already know. Master those and I have permission from Jiraiya to teach you something cool. Now I have stuff to do for the next five hours, if you have any questions ask Naruto."

Kakashi turned to leave, but was stopped by Naruto, "OI! You lazy bum! You haven't told me how to do seal-less jutsu!"

"Um…oops?" Kakashi pretended to be embarrassed for a moment. "All right, just drop the first hand sign in the jutsu, practice it that way until you have it down, then drop the next. It'll never be as strong seal-less as it is with seals. But after you master it each seal you use will make the jutsu stronger, use all of them and it'll be almost three times as strong. Later" Not wanting to be stopped again Kakashi shunshined away.

"I can't believe he just…well actually considering I've known him for four years I _can_ believe he just did that, but still!" Naruto was fuming at being left to teach Hinata and Sasuke by himself. Sighing to him self he walked up to a tree, "Okay Jiraiya and Kakashi recommend running up the tree to get started and figuring out how much chakra to use by falling on your ass repeatedly. If you do that you'll be at it for hours just trying to figure out how much chakra to use. So if you want my advice focus chakra onto your palms, it's a lot easier to control that way, once you figure out the optimal amount of chakra, the try to recreate that with your feet."

Half an hour later, Hinata was the first to get it right and managed to climb to the top, Sasuke on the other hand seemed to be getting nowhere, "Damnit! What am I doing wrong!" After a spectacularly failed attempt at getting his palm to stick to the tree (he had channeled so much chakra into his palm he had actually knocked it over.) Sasuke felt like giving up.

"Sasuke," Naruto was currently walking up and down the tree with a variety of odd objects stuck to him, "I told you you're using to much chakra." Seeing the gloomy expression on his rivals face Naruto decided to cheer him up a bit, "Hey Duck-butt! You're still learning faster than I did it took me three weeks to get as far as Hinata, and for the first two I was making a worse mess than you are. In fact I know exactly what your problem is."

Sasuke looked up hopefully, "Please tell me."

"You're too strong; you have a lot of chakra, like me, well nowhere near as much chakra as I do, I have almost five times what ero-sensei has, but still you have a ton, you realize that no-one our age should be able to use the 'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu' right? I can't tell you how much chakra to use, because it's different for each person, but keep at it." Naruto went back to walking up and down the tree.

A few minutes later, Hinata, whose tree was on Naruto's other side asked, "U-Um, N-Naruto-kun, w-why do you have things stuck to yourself?"

"I'm technically doing a more advanced exercise, with my ludicrous amount of chakra I have to work a lot harder just to maintain what I have. The objects are all different sizes shape and weight, so the each needs a different amount of chakra to stick, it's almost as hard as making a Rasengan."

Sasuke, who had begun trying to climb his tree interrupted, "A what?"

"Oh…uh…oops?" Naruto looked guilty, "Pretend I didn't say anything? Please? I'm not really supposed to tell anyone about it."

"Fishcake, TELL US!"

"Y-Yes, Please t-tell us Naruto-kun."

"Promise you won't tell anyone else?" Seeing his teammates nod Naruto relented, "The Rasengan was the Yondaime Hokage's signature attack. It's the epitome of shape transformation, and so damn hard that it takes two of me to do it right now. My chakra control still isn't good enough to do it one handed…" seeing how his hour of tree walking was up Naruto jumped of the tree and walked towards the stream that divided Training Ground Seven from his personal training ground. "I'll show it to you later, I have more exercise to do before I move on to jutsu practice!"

Sasuke finally managed to get the tree walking exercise down after four hours of struggling, he still wasn't perfect but he could go for about ten minutes before he would slip or launch himself off of the tree. Hinata could tree walk for about 20 minutes but afterwards she would need half an hour of rest. Naruto, however, still hadn't managed to form a single 'Fuuton: Daitoppa' without the first hand-seal. "This is so hard!" he grumbled, "I should really have my clones do this for me…"

Sasuke blinked, he'd seen Naruto struggling for the better part of two hours with a jutsu he had practiced daily for four years and was honestly confused why he hadn't already used his clones. "Um, Naruto, is there a reason you haven't used your clones yet?"

Naruto looked a bit sheepish, "Well, it's not fair to you two, if I use my Kage Bunshin."

Sighing at Naruto's idiocy Sasuke jumped off his tree. Skipping the first hand-seal he began making the hand seal for his fireball: "Kato: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" He blew an admittedly small fireball out at the target that Naruto had been using. "Fishcake, you need all the help you can get." Laughing inside at Naruto's dumbstruck face Sasuke went back to practice.

When Kakashi finally came back he saw four hundred Naruto's all practicing the 'Fuuton: Daitoppa' with the real Naruto acting as traffic controller dispelling and reforming the clones in groups of five every ten seconds. "How's it going guys?" he said while ducking a hall of kunai thrown at him by his students. "Made any progress on the tree walking?"

"No thanks to you Kakashi" Sasuke grumbled.

"Hinata-chan got it done in half an hour; she doesn't have the reserves to keep walking for more than twenty minutes, though." Naruto chimed in, his praise making Hinata blush crimson.

"Next we'll do some Taijutsu exercise, so I can see what you need to work on, I have a good idea of what Hinata needs from yesterday's fight, but you two," he said pointing to Sasuke and Naruto, "didn't use much Taijutsu so I need more data to find were you need more work. After that we'll do some Genjutsu training, and Naruto, I _know_ you're terrible at Genjutsu. Tomorrow we'll start by doing two hours of chakra control exercises, which, by the way Hinata, help enlarge your chakra reserves. Then it's two hours of physical training, three hours of Taijutsu practice, the last hour will cycle each day will be something different, once you master tree walking and water walking and have sufficient chakra to do both for two hours the training time will increase by two hours, for Ninjutsu practice, I expect all of you too keep up with your personal training programs, I can't teach you everything. Dismissed!" Not risking them delaying him this time Kakashi shunshined away.

"I don't know about you two but I'm starving! Who wants to grab a bite to eat with me? I know the best place for ramen in the whole town!"

"Sure, why not Fishcake."

"I-I'd l-love too Naruto-kun"

Naruto took them to his little piece of heaven, Ramen Ichiruka. "Hey Old Man! I finally became a ninja!" Naruto shouted as he entered the ramen stand. Teuchi was tending the stove, while Ayame, his daughter cleaned the bar.

"Oh, and are these two your team mates?"

"This Is Hinata-chan, and the guy who looks like a duck landed on his head is Sasuke. I'll have the usual, what do you two want?"

"I don't know, Fishcake, I'll have what you're having I guess." As soon as he finished his sentence both the old man and his daughter burst out laughing.

"Only an Akimichi can keep up with him when it comes to ramen. How about a nice bowl of shrimp ramen?"

Sasuke shrugged, fine I guess."

"I'll h-have a p-pork ramen."

Before they were half way done with their first bowl Naruto was on his fifth. Stopping to breathe Naruto said, "You did good today Hinata-chan, at this rate you'll be the best kunoichi in our village by the end of the year!" Naruto paused momentarily to destroy another three bowls of ramen, "And Sasuke you learned how to tree walk a lot faster than I did I'm so jealous!"

"T-T-Thank you Naruto-kun!" The praise almost made her fall out of her chair, "Y-You're really strong Naruto."

"So Naruto, you going to show us that jutsu like you promised?" Sasuke asked while watching Naruto polish off his fifteenth bowl of ramen.

"Come with me." Naruto led them to Training Ground Zero, which was still covered with Naruto-clones, "You guys need to wait until I'm done dispelling these okay?" Naruto sat down in a meditative pose and began dispelling his clones in groups of twenty. Half an hour later he dispelled the last clone, Standing up and stretching he summoned a single clone, placing his palm face up he began to form the Rasengan; the clone quickly placed his hands over it and finished the transformation.

"It's so pretty…" Hinata was entranced by the grapefruit sized ball of swirling blue chakra.

"You did that with no seals?"

"No, it's pure chakra manipulation. Once I actually master it I'll be able to form it one-handed."

And so it went, for a month and a half they did nothing but training. By the end of the month Naruto could do his 'Fuuton: Daitoppa' with just the last hand seal. Sasuke learned the Raiton: Seidenki Shōgeki, as well as learned how to do his fireball jutsu with just two seals. Hinata made the most progress, during her spare time, apparently she worked hard at the chakra control exercises, quickly increasing her reserves, and once Kakashi taught her Suiton: Suiben she took to it like a duck to water. The control she had over her water jutsu, she had leaned some on her own even, was such that Kakashi raved to his fellow Jonin that he was training a second Nidaime Hokage.

The next two months were spent doing d-ranked missions and working on advanced tactics and teamwork and trust building exercises. Naruto however, had enough of the boring D-ranks and the next time he saw the Hokage, he was going to give him a piece of his mind!.

_**Konoha, Nine Months, Twenty-Five Days ago: **_

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Naruto shouted at the Hokage, D-Ranks are boring and pointless! Give us a real mission!"

**A/N Next up Wave Arc! How will Zabuza's earlier meeting with Naruto change the future? Find out next time!**


	16. XV: Taiyō Sakusei

**A/N I cannot do math, three and a half months should have brought the total down to eight months, twenty-five, not nine. I apologize for my poor math and promise to fix it…eventually. Also I realized my timeline is all screwed up, I will eventually go back and fix it for it's supposed to be spring not December at this point in the story….**

_**Road To Konoha, Present Day:**_

"Kakashi made them train for three and a half months, before he let the go on a single d-rank? Why?" They had stopped to eat a quick lunch and Tsunade was taking the opportunity to ask questions.

"Because he wanted to build a balanced training regime for them and because he knew they'd thank him after a few actual D-ranks."

"I still can't believe you taught him the Rasengan, Jiraiya. What where you thinking?"

"That it would be easier to learn then Hirashin? He deserved to learn one of his father's techniques. And besides it was a good way to teach him shape transformation. Anyways it was Kakashi's idea to teach the kid his father's Jutsu."

"Um… Jiraiya-sama, Shizune interrupted, "Before we stopped you had started to talk about his first real mission, what happened?"

_**Konoha, Eight Months, Twenty-Five Days ago: **_

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Naruto shouted at the Hokage, "D-Ranks are boring and pointless! Give us a real mission!" Naruto was jumping up and down while ranting. "We've done more than twenty D-ranks!"

Rummaging through the piles of mission scrolls, the Hokage sighed, "Well Kakashi? Do you think they can handle a C-rank?"

"They probably could have handled a C-rank right out of the academy. Now they could handle a low B-rank…well, probably"

The Hokage stopped rummaging and looked Kakashi in the eye, "Are you sure?" He brought up another scroll. "This C-rank is rather suspicious, it might actually be a B-rank or higher. On paper it's a simple mission escort a bridge builder back to Wave, but information from Wave has been scare this past year, and rather grim. But now a self proclaimed 'super' bridge builder is here to get ninja to protect him and his bridge from 'bandits'? Something is wrong in Wave, and I want you to find out what it is. And if possible, fix it. So to that end, I'm assigning you a B-rank mission. Make sure you find out what's going on. Any questions?"

Naruto was practically glowing with excitement, 'Finally! A real mission!' It took all of his self-control not to start cheering and dancing, "Just one. When do we leave?"

The Hokage gave the vibrating Naruto a grandfatherly smile, "As soon as you want, in fact Tazuna is in the other room waiting for me to assign a team to him."

Seeing how Naruto would likely explode if he turned this down Kakashi sighed, "Alright send him in."

The Hokage motioned to one of the Anbu in the corner of the room. The man nodded and left the room silently, moments later he returned with a tallish elderly man with grey hair and goatee. The man, who had to lean on the door frame to remain standing said, "What's this? I thought I paid for ninja, not brats. Look one of them is even a midget! Can you even be a ninja when you're super short?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto charged the bridge builder with a drawn kunai. Fortunately, for Tazuna, Sasuke's ninja wires tripped Naruto, and before Naruto could try to charge again Kakashi picked him up by the scruff of his neck.

"Now, now, Naruto, if you really must kill the 'super' annoying man do it like a real ninja, wait until after he pays us."

"Alright Kakashi sensei, I think I can wait, after all I don't want to fail me first C-rank."

Kakashi lowered the silently fuming blond back to the ground. "I'll have you know, these three came out of the academy strong enough to be made Chunin right away, and they've only gotten stronger since. They just need to do the requisite number of missions before they can be entered into the Chunin exams." He leaned in and whispered in Tazuna's ear, "between you and me that 'super' short ninja is the strongest ninja to come out of the academy since the Gallant Jiraiya, who, I might add, trained him personally for 5 years." Kakashi took a step back to enjoy the look of terror on their clients face. Patting the man on his shoulder Kakashi said, "Alright team grab your long term gear, and meet me at the south gate in fifteen minutes."

Five minutes later all of Team seven was there with Tazuna, waiting for Kakashi to arrive. "I just realized something," Naruto said, while adjusting the trap that held his storage scroll to his back.

Sasuke, who was eyeing Naruto's much smaller and lighter scroll jealously, said, "What'd you realize fishcake?"

Hinata spoke up, "K-Kakashi-sensei is g-going to be at least an hour l-l-late isn't he?" Sure enough Kakashi himself didn't show up for another hour and twenty minutes.

"YOU'RE LATE"

"Pipe down Naruto, there was a little old lady that needed help across the street. Then I saw a black cat and had to walk all the way around." Ignoring his sensei's lies Naruto set out, determined to be the first one of his team to exit the village. "Hold up Naruto. We need to set a formation, when youre protecting some one you need to do it properly. You don't just run off."

"Fine…where do I stand?" Naruto looked dejected; he figured Kakashi would make him stand in the back as a punishment for trying to run off before they were ready.

"Since you're so excited I'll let you take point, I'll be the rear guard Sasuke you take left flank, Hinata you take right flank, and activate your Byakugan we don't want any surprises, now do we?."

"YES!" Naruto jumped for joy, "Come on old man put the sake down and let's go!" With Tazuna safely surrounded they set off towards Wave. Of course after half a day at Tazuna's slow pace, constant use of the word super, and the overpowering smell of sake, Naruto was regretting his decision not to kill the bridge builder.

"K-Kakashi-sensei, there's t-two ninja hidden inside a G-Genjutsu in front of us." Hinata whispered to her sensei. "B-But they must not be very b-bright, it hasn't r-r-rained in a w-week b-but they've hidden th-th-themselves in a p-puddle."

"Nicely spotted Hinata. Now team any ideas on how to deal with them?"

"Oh, that's easy Sasuke channels his lightning through his ninja wire to stun them. I beat the crap out of one he beats the other, you and Hinata take care of Tazuna." Naruto said to Kakashi.

"Any objections? No? Then let's try Naruto's plan. As the walked pas the puddle Sasuke flicked his wrist, lunching ninja wires into the puddle, making the hand-seals for 'Raiton: Seidenki Shōgeki'. Out of the puddle fell two ninja with black hair and Kiri hitai-ate, with their lower faces hidden behind breathing masks. "Oh it's the Demon Brothers, try not to kill them, kids, they could be a valuable source of information!"

"Ugh... Take us seriously Damnit…" one of the brothers groaned. Before he could stand up however he got a flying kick to the face.

"What took you so long Fishcake?" Sasuke's opponent was already cocooned in ninja wire.

"I wanted to see if he anything interesting to say, here tie him up for me. Kakashi-sensei, I assume you want to take them into the woods for questioning?"

Kakashi dragged the two unconscious ninja off into the woods. A few moments later screams erupted from the woods. "All right I'm done here, let's go." Kakashi came out of the woods and held a quick whispered conversation with his students.

"Um...aren't you going to ask me why there's ninja after me?" a nervous Tazuna asked

"We already knew you were lying about this mission, that's why we where assigned to this mission. And now thanks to the Demon brothers we know exactly what were up against. Should be a piece of cake right team?" Kakashi said blandly.

"Yep!"

"Hn."

"Y-Yes."

"See, nothing to worry about, let's move out."

Two days later they reached the shore, and the boat waiting to take them to the land of waves. "Wow, I haven't seen mist this thick before!" Naruto crowed from the front of the boat.

"Shut up brat! What if one of Gato's men hear you!" the Ferryman whispered to Naruto.

Naruto was about to argue but the then half built bridge loomed down at them out of the mist. "Wow, that's big…." Naruto for once was at a loss for words. After the boat docked at an overgrown, broken down peir. They set off towards the town, which was another two hours away. Half an hour later Naruto felt something terrible happen to him. "Um, Kakashi sense, I need to make a quick pit stop."

"Surely it can wait a bit Naruto."

"No I need to take a _break_ right _now_!" Naruto stressed, eyes starting to cross form the strain.

"Oh, all right hurry up." Kakashi said. Naruto immediately half sprinted half waddled off into the woods. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, Not really interested in seeing what made Naruto run like that, In the Hyuuga Clan complex all the bathrooms had barriers preventing any such accidents from scarring them for life.

A few minutes later Sasuke thought he felt something creep up on them, spinning around he launched a kunai at whoever was sneaking up behind them. When nothing happened, he began to wonder if he was imagining things, until, at least an incredibly traumatized white rabbit hopped out of the bushes he had thrown his kunai into.

"S-Sasuke! How c-could you!" Hinata rushed to the rabbit's side, "are you okay rabbit-san?" Hinata asked the trembling animal, she picked it up and stroked it until it calmed down

Kakashi, meanwhile was staring at the white animal. The animal was obviously tame, and enjoyed the attention Hinata was giving it. Was it someone's pet? But what about the feeling Sasuke had? Then it clicked Kawarimi! "EVERYONE DOWN!" he bellowed throwing himself over Tazuna. And not a moment to soon, as the massive sword scythed through the air scant inches above their heads.

"I swear, Kakashi, what is it with you and showing up on what's supposed to be an easy mission? I'm going to have to charge double for this." None Other than Momochi Zabuza stood on the handle of the massive sword, Kubikiribōchō, Looking around Zabuza visibly relaxed, "Are these two your new apprentices? What happened to the blond kid? Trying for quantity instead of quality?"

Just then, Naruto staggered out of the woods, "I hope no one has to go in that direction for a while!" Naruto looked at the frozen tableau Guy with no eyebrows on a big sword, obviously monologueing, team just standing up from the ground, "Okay what did I miss?"

"OH KAMI NOT AGAIN!" The look on what little of Zabuza's face that could be seen was priceless.

"OH! I recognize you! So No-Brows did you get shafted by being hired to assassinate use again?" Naruto asked conversationally.

"No, I'm here for the old guy this time…I don't suppose you'd let me kill him if I asked nicely?" The hope in Zabuza's voice was clear.

'What the hell did Naruto do to him?' Sasuke wondered.

"NO!" Naruto shouted.

"I'll give you half of my pay…"

"Well…"

"N-Naruto-Kun!" Hinata admonished Naruto. She really hoped he was joking.

"Guess not No-Brows, besides I still want to kill him myself."

"I thought we were past that…" Tazuna mumbled to himself.

"Tell you what No-Brows, You leave peacefully and we'll pretend you were never here."

"Something tells me I'm really going to regret this, but I have a job to do…At least I can charge four times my normal pay for this!" Grabbing his sword Zabuza jumped from the tree onto the surface of the ocean. "At least this time I have enough water to work with."

Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, nodding once they began to fly through the hand-seals. Seeing what the were doing Hinata closed her eeys and turned away.

"**KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU/FUUTON: DAITOPPA/KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU"** They cried in unison. Their Jutsu collided halfway to Zabuza and began to grow to enormous size. **"TAIYŌ SAKUSEI" **(Sun Creation)

Zabuza took one look at the giant white hot fireball and shunshined away as fast as he could. The heat alone was enough to burn his back from a hundred feet away. There was a giant hiss and the light from the fire ball faded away. Deciding to risk it he looked over his shoulder as he ran. What he saw scared him more than the kid managing to level half a forest. There was a crater in the water. The water inside it seemed to be boiling off faster than it could fill the hole.

"I think I need an army…"


	17. XVI: Death

**A/N: I had a hard time writing this chapter, I couldn't find a decent stopping point, so I present you what is currently the longest chapter in the story.**

_**Road To Konoha, Present Day:**_

"Please tell me you're joking." Tsunade's suspension of disbelief had come crashing down at the description of the collaboration jutsu, so far she'd heard some pretty messed up things in the story Jiraiya was telling but this was too much.

"Nope not joking, the crater only lasted ten seconds or so."

"That can't be possible! Those two jutsu shouldn't be able to do something like that!"

"They haven't told me exactly how they do it but I know that there are extra hand seals in the jutsu they use."

"Why didn't hey include Hinata?" Shizune felt that Hinata should have a part to play in something as awe-inspiring as the Taiyō Sakusei.

"A water jutsu would be pointless and her earth jutsu at the time wasn't good enough for a collaboration jutsu."

"You know I almost feel sorry for Zabuza." Tsunade snickered.

"You should." Jiraiya said with a knowing look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see."

_**Road To Wave, Eight Months, Twenty-Three Days ago: **_

"Did we get him?" Naruto looked around for some sign of Zabuza.

"OH SUPER KAMI MY SUPER EYES!" Tazuna was clutching his face while rolling on the ground in agony. "YOU SUPER BRATS! I'M SUPER BLIND! I'LL SUPER KILL YOU!"

"You know, Fishcake, I think he uses the word super instead of cursing…" Sasuke lifted his hitai-ate back onto his forehead uncovering his eyes. Blinking a few time to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, he asked, "Um... is that a crater in the water?"

Naruto, whose goggles now had an auto-tint function, giggled proudly, "Why yes Duck-Butt, I do believe it is."

Kakashi, who had been the first to uncover his eye, and had spent the whole time staring at the crater, wondered out loud, "How long is it going to stay there for?"

"So…" Naruto said looking at the now roasted and boiled fish floating to the surface of the water, "Who wants soup?"

"G-g-good j-job everyone! It's a shame he got away though…" Hinata said, still holding the rabbit.

"C'mon team some one grab the 'super' noisy man and drag him to his home." Kakashi said setting off towards Tazuna's house.

Seeing the opportunity for a little vengeance Naruto grabbed Tazuna by his ankle and began dragging him along the road, "Next time you see a ninja look away from something during a battle, even if the clan is known for sensitive eyes, I suggest you do the same." Tazuna, of course, couldn't answer; his head was currently bouncing from rock to rock as Naruto dragged him along the rough dirt road. "Ah music to my ears!" Naruto was thoroughly enjoying the sound of Tazuna whimpering.

By the time they got to his house Tazuna wasn't sure what was worse, the rocks form the dirt road or the splinters from the piers that kept the town afloat. "What are you doing to my Father?" A woman with dark shoulder length black hair opened the door when they knocked.

"This old drunk is your father? 'Super'. " Naruto dragged Tazuna into the house and dropped his foot. "Tell him not to annoy ninja hired to keep him alive."

"Oh, in that case thank you for keeping him alive. My name is Tsunami." She smiled at the ninja, before she turned to her father, "What have I told you about annoying people?"

A small boy entered the house, when he saw Tazuna on the ground he shouted "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY GRANDFATHER!" he started to shake the barely conscious Tazuna. "You killed him!"

"U'm nah ded, jes a lil sir" Tazuna managed to mumble from the ground.

"Inari, your grandfather will be fine. He just learned an important lesson"

"Well Tazuna, what do you need us to do?" Kakashi asked Tazuna when he was able to stand.

"I need some one to guard me at the bridge and some one to keep my family safe when I'm not here."

"Wait, they're going up against Gato?" Inari asked.

"Of course! Even if we weren't getting paid for it Gato deserves to die." Naruto said.

"Then you're going to die. No one can stand against Gato."

"Gato is just a wimp who pays other people for his dirty work! I'm a 'super' hero who will become Hokage one day! Gato doesn't stand a chance!"

"You're an idiot then, there's no such thing as heroes." Inari turned to leave the room.

"Inari, where are you going, dear?" his mother asked.

"To look at the sea from my room." He shut the door with a click.

"I'm sorry" Tazuna sighed.

"That brat!" Naruto stormed out of the room after him, intending to teach him a few lessons. However when he got to Inari's door he heard muffled sobs.

"…dad…"

Naruto decided that the lessons could wait until later.

_**Meanwhile: Zabuza's Base**_

"Zabuza-sama! Are you alright?" A young girl in a pink kimono caught Zabuza as he collapsed. "You sad you would be right back! What happened to you!"

"Remember that brat I told you about? The one that inspired me to take on an prentice of my own? He was there."

"Did he throw a forest at you again? How'd you get these burns?"

"No. His team made a sun and threw _that_ at me this time, Haku."

"A sun?" Haku tilted her head. "I don't want to know, and where's my rabbit?" She frowned, "you better not have gotten him killed. Or eaten."

"Last I saw he was in the arms of the girl on the brat's team. She probably wouldn't let them eat him."

Sighing Haku said, "Lay on your stomach so I can treat your burns."

_**Tazuna's House:**_

"So, while one of us guards the house and another guards Tazuna and the bridge the other two are allowed to use the nearby woods as a training ground." Kakashi said to the assembled Genin. "Naruto, when you train I want you to focus on your chakra control. Yours is still terrible. Sasuke you work with your ninja wire, you're defiantly good with it, but you could be a lot better. Hinata your water jutsu are phenomenal, but your earth control is terrible, so practice that. Any questions? No? Good Naruto you have first shift Tazuna watching. Try not to kill him. Dismissed." Kakashi briefed his team, the morning after they arrived.

Naruto was bored out of his mind, nothing had happened all day, and if Tazuna said 'super' one more time he wasn't sure Tazuna wouldn't have a 'mysterious accident' that left him in bite size chunks. "Hey…uh…Tazuna, I've been… thinking…" one of the workers came up to Tazuna, "Um…Can I stop working on the bridge?"

"Not you too Giichi! Why now? Were so close just one more month and we'd be done!"

"Gato's gonna come down hard on us Tazuna, do you really want to die so badly?"

"I hired Ninja to prevent that!"

"What happens when they leave? Gato's gonna show up and kill everyone who worked on the bridge and then blow it up! I have a family to care for man!"

"Fine…you can leave… But I will never give up on this bridge! It's the key to freeing us from Gato's grip!"

"I'm sorry Tazuna; I didn't know things were that bad for you…can I do anything to help?" Naruto asked the defeated looking man.

"Unless you can find me a dozen skilled workers…"

"How about a hundred? Or a thousand? They wouldn't be skilled at first but I learn fast."

"What are you talking about kid?"

"Let me show you… KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" three hundred Naruto clones now stood on the bridge. "Tell them what to do, and help them learn how to do it, I'll replace them every half hour, by the end of the day they'll have more experience than half your men."

Tazuna stared in shock for thirty seconds before he swooped down on Naruto and picked him up in a bone crushing hug. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! You're the best kid! We'll be done in no time!"

_**Meanwhile: Zabuza's Base**_

"I can't believe these burns aren't from a direct hit Zabuza-sama. I've actually run out of burn cream." Haku was changing Zabuza's bandages when the door burst open and a short man with two tall samurai swordsmen entered the room.

"So…you were defeated," the short man, Gato, said smugly, "Kiri Ninjas must be pretty pathetic. And you call yourself a devil. Ha!" Gato's men advanced a step with their hands on their swords. "Just a second." Gato said to his guards, as he advanced to the injured Zabuza. "There's no need to remain silent, Zabuza." He stretched out his hand to Zabuza's face.

An inch away Haku's hand shot out and grabbed Gato's arm and squeezed until it cracked. "Don't you dare touch Zabuza-sama, with your filthy hands." Gato's men rushed forward and attempted to draw their swords. Haku moved so fast the samurai didn't even have time to blink before she had their weapons out of their hands and at their necks. "You shouldn't try that when I'm angry. You won't like me when I'm angry." Haku growled at the men.

"You have one more chance Zabuza!" Gato shouted at Zabuza, seemingly ignoring Haku and his men.

"The brat's a demon; I'll need more men to have a chance at Tazuna. At least give me a few as a distraction for the brat."

"I'll think about it, if the kid really is as strong as you claim he could be a problem. However I personally doubt it." Gato said dismissively, as he stormed out of the room.

After he left Zabuza turned his head to Haku, "You didn't need to break his arm you know." He said as he pulled a kunai out from under his pillow.

"If I didn't you'd have killed him, and then the hunter-nins would be after us again. If you must kill him, do it like a real ninja, after he pays us. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go find more herbs to make burn cream with."

_**The Woods near Tazuna's house**_

Naruto had stayed up late last night practicing his chakra control. Eventually he decided that he might as well sleep out here, he didn't want to wake any one up after all.

Haku entered the clearing where she gathered most of her herbs. Much to her surprise the clearing was rather torn up, and a blond boy maybe a year or two younger than her was sleeping under a tree. 'Is this 'the brat' Zabuza-sama is always complaining about?' she stalked forwards, intending to kill him. Reaching towards his neck she was surprised when his eyes snapped open. "You shouldn't sleep outside, you'll catch a cold." She said sweetly, hoping that he fell for it, because if he didn't she was as good as dead.

"Huh?" Naruto said blearily. Rubbing his eyes he looked up and saw Haku for the first time. "Bwah." Was all he could manage to get out.

"My name is Haku, who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Despite Naruto still being dumbstruck, managed to say his name.

"I'm looking for herbs to make medicine. What are you doing here?" Haku was obviously fishing for information, but Naruto didn't seem to notice.

"Sleeping? I was training before I fell asleep though."

Looking around at the damage Haku asked, "Are you a ninja? You look pretty strong already. Why do you want to get stronger?"

"I want to be the strongest ninja in my village! If I become the strongest ninja, then the people in my village would be forced to acknowledge me!"

"Do you have some one that is important to you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's only when you have someone to protect that you can be truly strong."

"Wow…" Naruto thought back to all of the strong people he knew, and how they were always fighting for someone else. "Wow! You're right! I never thought of it like that before!"

"So do you have someone to protect?"

"Well, yeah I guess, I have my friends, and my sensei, and even the village despite the fact that they don't like me much…"

"That's good; you'll be truly strong some day." Haku smiled at Naruto.

"Do you need any help finding herbs? I'd love to help."

"Yes I do actually."

Naruto helped Haku look for herbs for the next few hours; they talked about a variety of subjects. By the time Haku had enough herbs, she was no longer sure she wanted to kill the blond. At least she had some information to give to Zabuza.

Naruto headed back for breakfast, after spending two hours with his new friend Haku he was rather hungry. As he walked into the kitchen he saw Hinata staring at a photo on the while, "Why is part of the photo cut out? Inari-chan was staring at it during dinner yesterday."

"The missing person was my husband." Tsunami said quietly.

"He was the hero of wave…" Tazuna said somberly. Inari stood up suddenly and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Father! You know how Inari feels about that! Why would you talk about him in front of Inari!"

"Do you mind telling us what happened? Kakashi asked.

"Inari's real father died before he was born." Tsunami said mournfully. "One day he fell into the ocean trying to save a puppy from drowning despite knowing he couldn't swim. A fisherman named Kaiza saved him from drowning. Kaiza was a very brave and strong man; his personal belief was that you must protect what is precious to you with your own two arms. They became very close, and he eventually became a part of the family."

Tazuna continued when his daughter fell silent. "When the dam's gates broke open during a rainstorm he threw him self into the flood and forced the gates shut by himself. He was a real hero. But then Gato came…" Tazuna was silent for a moment; taking a deep breath he forced himself to continue his story, "Gato wanted to break the spirit of Wave. He publicly executed Kaiza, after cutting off his arms, for the punishment of 'terrorist attacks against the Gato Corporation'…" the room fell silent in respect of a brave man's sacrifice.

"Naruto-kun, w-where are you g-going?" Hinata asked as Naruto stood up abruptly and went to leave the building.

"I'm going to train more. I swear that I'm going to show Inari that heroes still exist!"

Over the next week and a half Naruto trained like a madman, spending almost all day in the woods, sleeping most nights sleeping under the same tree he met Haku at. He ran into Haku four times, each time he took a break from his training to spend some time with her.

Each time Haku felt worse and worse about giving the information she got from him to Zabuza.

One night after Naruto came back particularly tired and worn out Inari finally lost it. "WHY DO YOU TRY SO HARD? You'll never be a match for Gato's men! When the weak fight the strong the weak always lose!"

"I'm nothing like you kid; I'm nothing like anyone you know. Your right in one thing though when the weak fight the strong they lose. But let me tell you something, against Gato, I'M THE STRONG!"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU'RE A CLOWN! YOU'RE ALWAYS SO HAPPY WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SUFFERING!"

"You think your life's a tragedy? Keep crying and do nothing to fix it you wimp!" Naruto actually snarled at inari

"N-Naruto! He d-doesn't know p-p-please calm down…" Hinata placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to calm him down while fighting her blush from overwhelming her. Inari meanwhile had stormed out of the room. Sighing Kakashi stood up and followed him.

Outside Inari was sitting at the edge of the pier staring at the waves under the moonlight. Kakashi sat down next to him, "Naruto didn't mean to hurt you... he was upset and he doesn't think very well when he's like that."

"…"

"Tazuna told us about your father. Naruto also grew up with out a father, in fact until he was seven he didn't even know the names of his parents or why he was in an orphanage. When he was seven a mob tried to murder him. Even though his life was hard for such a long time I've never known him to cry or complain. Ever since he was given the chance to become strong he's always tried his best to get others to acknowledge him for his strength. And the village we live in still hates him for something that wasn't his fault. Honestly he's probably tired of crying." Kakashi left Inari to think about what he had said.

The next morning Naruto slept in, he had tired himself training the past week and a half. "Let him sleep." Kakashi told his team "c'mon I have a bad feeling about today I want both of you to come with me."

_**Meanwhile: Zabuza's Base**_

"Are the ambushes ready?" Gato asked the men gathered around Zabuza's hidden house.

"Yeah we have all three ready; they'll never know what hit them." One of Gato's guards said.

"Heh-heh, I have dibs on the girl." The other licked his lips at the thought of what he'd do to her, before he killed her of course.

Gato walked up and banged on Zabuza's door "You two ready?"

Zabuza and the now masked Haku walked out of the hut. "Yeah we're ready, you got the distraction for the boy all set up?"

_**Tazuna's House:**_

Naruto woke with a start, pulling on his gear he rushed into the kitchen, "Where's every one?" he asked Tsunami.

"Your sensei said you should rest…" Before Tsunami could continue her sentence the door to the house burst open.

"All right you lot the boss wants the woman as hostage for when the brat comes back from training! You can kill the boy." The head thug said as he stormed into Tazuna's house.

"You made a big mistake." Naruto stood up "I'm still here." Left eye glowing Naruto clapped his hands together and summoned Uzu no Tsubasa, "I hope you don't mind blood Tsunami-san, it's going to be messy." Naruto charged the mob staff-sword whirling cutting through weapons and people alike. Inari watched in shock as the blond he dismissed as 'weak' butchered the thugs who had come to kill him and capture his mother. He saw one of the thugs slip past the blond maelstrom, and charge his mother, probably hoping to use her as a hostage.

Steeling himself Inari grabbed the knife on the counter and charged the man who was coming at his other. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH" he rushed in and stabbed the man in the back of his leg. As he lifted the knife to kill the man a bloody hand grasped him at the wrist. Looking up he saw Naruto, who proceeded to stab the man himself.

"I was wrong you _are_ brave. But you shouldn't have to kill someone. Not when there's ninja who are trained to deal with it nearby." Before Inari could manage to say anything Naruto was already running off.

_**Meanwhile At the Bridge:**_

"W-what is this jutsu?" Sasuke panted he and Hinata were back to back surrounded by floating ice mirrors. Despite his Sharingan finally activating Sasuke couldn't completely keep up with up with the masked ninja's speed.

"I'm sorry." Haku said. Before unleashing a hail of senbon from the mirrors at Sasuke. Faced with the option of dodging and letting the tired and weakened Hinata take the blow or taking it himself, he decided to stand his ground. Of course after he took the blow, Haku targeted Hinata. As Hinata fell Naruto appeared through the fog.

"HINATA! NO!" Naruto screamed. He rushed to her side and picked her up, "HINATA! HINATA! Are you okay? Please answer me!"

"N-Naruto-kun… I-I'm s-sorry… I wanted to tell you I-I-I l-l-lo…" Hinata's eyes slowly glazed over.

"NOOO!" Naruto's chakra began to boil, pouring out of him and forming his three tailed cloak. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto charged the masked ninja, screaming in rage.

Haku tried to jump into a mirror, but with the power boost granted by the chakra shroud Naruto managed to grab her by the ankle. Swinging her through the air he launched her through one of her own mirrors. Bouncing twice and rolling to a stop Haku tried to stand and perform her water senbon jutsu. But Naruto came barreling though the mist and landed a blow directly in the center of the mask, barley able to stand Haku closed her eyes. She knew she couldn't win this fight. At least she didn't have to kill her friend.

Naruto's fist stopped millimeters from her face. "Haku…why?"

"Why did you stop? Didn't I kill you precious people?" Snarling Naruto punched Haku in the face again. "You hit harder before, what happened?"

"You are one of my precious people too, why do you want me to kill you?"

"Can you imagine living with no dream? Being unneeded? Having to live with your dreams crushed?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Zabuza-sama has no need for a broken tool. You have taken the only reason to live from me"

"Is No-Brows the only person who is precious to you? What about me? You are my friend!"

"I had people a very long time ago. My parents. I lived in a little snowy village, hidden in the mountains around Kiri. But one day my father found out my mother's secret. I have a Kekkei Genkai, I got it from her. In Kiri, Kekkei Genkai are hated and feared, when my father found out he killed my mother and then tried to kill me. I killed him in self defense, my father who I loved with my whole heart. After that I had to accept that in this world I was unwanted. But Zabuza-sama found me shortly after. Even knowing I had a Kekkei Genkai he wanted me. But now that I'm defeated he has no use for me. So, please, kill me. I don't want to live without purpose."

"Why? I don't understand! There are other things you can do with your life! You could come back with us to Konoha! Is this really the only way?"

"Yes, please make your own dreams come true." Haku closed her eyes and waited.

"I'll make it quick then…" Naruto powered his cloak back up and walked slowly towards Haku. The breeze from the chakra cloak pushed the weakening mist away.

Haku noticed and looked towards Zabuza. He was being held in place by a pack of dogs. Kakashi was running towards him with his right hand glowing with chakra. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't let you kill me now!" Haku summoned one of her mirrors and rebounded off of it.

"Haku!" there was a flash of light as Kakashi's attack connected with someone…

"What happened?" Naruto sped of towards Kakashi and Zabuza. Haku had intercepted Kakashi's Raikiri with her chest. "No Haku…." Naruto dropped to his knees, broken; he had lost all of his friends in five minutes.

"Haku!" Zabuza snarled, "I'LL KILL YOU!" Zabuza staggered up and prepared to charge Kakashi when two hundred thugs swarmed around them led by Gato.

"Heh-heh, looks like my plan worked perfectly." Gato gloated.

"Aw the girl is dead. I wanted her." One of Gato's guards complained.

"I'll tell you something Zabuza; I never intended to pay you to begin with. And now that you're half dead I can kill you and take your bounty for myself"

"I won't forgive you Kakashi, but it looks like we have a mutual enemy. Give me a kunai, I can't use my arms."

"It's too bad the little bitch died, I was looking forward to watching my men deal with her."

Behind Kakashi a terrible, powerful, malevolent build up of chakra. "RRRRAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Naruto's scream was terrifying and animalistic. Naruto had entered his four-tails fom.

Taking advantage of the terror of his opponents Zabuza charged Gato, kunai held in his mouth. Panicking Gato started shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" Zabuza kept running, ignoring seemingly lethal blows. Finally reaching Gato, despite the fact that he had a sizable collection of weapons lodged in his body Zabuza cut Gato from neck to navel with the kunai held in his mouth.

Naruto, meanwhile was going berserk tearing thugs apart with his chakra shroud howling in anger and sorrow, when the last thug died Naruto seemed to come to himself again. "hey kid, good job. And thanks, for being Haku's friend, I wish she had more." Zabuza said as he slowly sank to his knees. "Could you take me to her? I want to see her one last time…"

Back with Kakashi, Sasuke and Hinata were waking up. "Ugh my head." Sasuke groaned. "What happened?"

"T-T-The last thing I r-r-remember was N-Naruto-kun coming. Did he save us?"

Helping each other up the made there way to Kakashi who was still standing over Haku's body. When Naruto came back half dragging half carrying Zabuza, he nearly dropped him when he saw his team mates alive. "Haku didn't kill you? I-I-I… Naruto broke down crying next to the dead girl. "I'm so sorry!"

Zabuza stared at Haku's face. "Haku there was so much I wanted to say, I'm sorry that I was to much of a coward to say it, I love you Haku." Zabuza's eyes closed and his breathing finally stopped.

"It's not fair!" Naruto was sobbing, "They didn't deserve to die!" Naruto didn't notice the pain in his right eye, nor did he notice the tears of blood that once more began to pour from his eye, falling onto Haku's face…

**A/N I had this point set as a stopping point for a chapter for a few days, but I couldn't find a decent stopping point anywhere before it in this chapter.**


	18. XVII: Rebirth

_**Road to Konoha, Present Day:**_

"The poor kid, how did he take it?" Shizune said during the silence that followed Zabuza's death in the story.

"Well, I'd say poorly, but something…unique… happened."

"What do you mean Jiraiya?"

_**The Bridge: Eight Months, Nine Days ago:**_

_"It's not fair!" Naruto was sobbing, "They didn't deserve to die!" Naruto didn't notice the pain in his right eye, nor did he notice the tears of blood that once more began to pour from his eye, falling onto Haku's face…_

"N-Naruto-kun's eye…" Hinata stared as a river of blood began to flow from his eye. "What's happening to it?" She activated her Byakugan, "Kami… It's so bright!"

Activating his Sharingan so he could see what Hinata was talking about, Sasuke stared in awe; the chakra pouring out of Naruto's eyes was pure white and so bright it hurt his eyes. Switching off his eyes Sasuke said, "Hinata, you might want to see this!" Naruto's right eye had begun to change, first the edge of his iris began to swirl the line separating it from the white of his eye visible thickened and darkened, then the purple from the band around his pupil began to flow outwards, leaving both bands paler then the left eye, with a slight slivery sheen. When the eye's transformation was complete Naruto's chakra spiked to ridiculously high levels. So much so that he began to actually glow, blue white chakra began to flow into Zabuza and Haku's bodies.

"What's he doing?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

"T-T-the wounds are c-closing…."

"That shouldn't even be possible…." Kakashi couldn't understand how pure chakra could heal a dead body.

Zabuza's eyes slowly open, "W-what's g-going on….I-I died. Didn't I?" Turning to his right his eyes widened as he saw Haku's wounds close. "How?" Was all he could say as Haku's eyes fluttered open.

"N-Naruto?" she asked as the last of her wounds closed. Naruto smiled faintly, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell forward, unconscious and unmoving, his breath coming in short sharp gasps. "Naruto!" She tried to stand up, but her body was too weak and she collapsed. "Someone help him!"

Of team seven Kakashi was the first to arrive, "I'm no medic, but what just happened should be impossible," he said while checking Naruto's vital signs. Pushing a soldier pill, into Naruto's mouth and forcing him to swallow it, he continued, "I think he'll live, I seems to be a case of advance chakra exhaustion, or maybe a form of severe chakra imbalance. But we need to get him to Konoha as fast as possible."

"What number?" Zabuza asked.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"I've seen someone with a chakra cloak like that before. I know what he is. All I want to know is what number? He's at least five."

"Nine." Kakashi said slowly.

Zabuza relaxed, "He'll be fine then; the man I wish to kill is only three. It'll take more then chakra exhaustion to kill him."

"Zabuza-sama, Naruto is like Yagura?"

"Yeah but his is a lot stronger if he's really the ninth," He turned to Kakashi, "So now what? The man who hired me is dead, and Haku is still alive, so we have no reason to fight."

"You're coming with us." Kakashi said. Hinata and Sasuke were really confused, first Naruto's eye changed, then he brings people back to life, now they're talking about Naruto and numbers and how it'll affect his chance of survival… just what was going on?

"What? Why? Are we under arrest?" Zabuza asked belligerently.

"No, but I have no idea what Naruto did, and you might hold the information necessary to heal him, so until the medics have a look at you, you aren't going anywhere."

"Fine….I owe the kid one anyway." Zabuza looked at Haku, "We need to have a long talk in private Haku."

"Would someone mid telling me what's going on?" Sasuke, deciding that he couldn't wait any longer, butted into the conversation, "What did Fishcake just do? What do numbers have to do with anything?

"That's the thing Sasuke, we don't know." Before Kakashi could continue a mob of villagers rushed onto the scene, led by Inari himself.

"Um…is it already over?" Inari asked. Then he noticed the gore splattered all over the bridge. "Naruto beat them all?" he swallowed trying not to throw up at the sight.

"Yeah Naruto won, But Zabuza here, killed Gato. And Naruto used up most of his chakra; we really need to go back to Konoha, and as fast as we can."

Tazuna stood up, "Give us 12 hours and we can have the bridge done if every one here pitches in." he said. "Besides, you all look tired if you leave in that condition it'll take you longer to get back then if you let yourselves rest."

"Fine," Kakashi said. He bent down and picked Naruto up. "C'mon team, let's head back to Tazuna's house and get some sleep, Zabuza, Haku you two are coming with us."

"Of course, I want to make sure Naruto-kun is fine." Haku said. Hinata narrowed her eyes at the tone the other girl said Naruto's name in.

"Oh, it's 'Naruto-kun' now is it?" Zabuza teased Haku.

Sasuke placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Calm down Hinata. Naruto is too thick to realize _anyone_ likes him. She won't steal him from you."

"Y-Y-Y-You k-k-know?" Hinata was blushing a furious shade of crimson.

"Hinata _everyone_ knows, at least everyone but Naruto."

"E-E-Even m-m-my f-f-father?"

"Hinata, your father tried to tell Naruto how you felt about him. I think he likes Naruto." Hinata let out a terrified squeak and passed out. Sasuke sighed and picked up Hinata.

"What happened to Hinata, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked Sasuke who was grumbling under his breath.

"She actually thought her crush on Naruto was a secret. When I told her that everyone knew she passed out."

"I had hoped that being around him would help her grow out of that."

The next morning Team Seven, Zabuza and Haku set out for Konoha. The villager's gathered around to see off the Ninja who saved them. "So Tazuna," Giichi asked his oldfriend, "What do you think we should name your bridge?"

"How about the great Naruto Bridge?"

As they neared the forests of Fire country Kakashi said, "Since we're not escorting anyone we can take the fastest route back to Konoha." Kakashi said jumping into the trees. Naruto's condition hadn't improved during the night and Kakashi was getting worried. Leaping from branch to branch they sped off north towards Konoha. Twelve hours later they arrived at the gates to Konoha.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Genin Team Seven lead by Kakashi, accompanied by Momochi Zabuza, and his apprentice Yuki Haku. We need to head to Konoha General Hospital immediately, due to injuries sustained by one Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm afraid Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku must be detained for questioning before being allowed entry."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. They're needed at the hospital as well. Uzumaki Naruto's condition is related to their physical condition, if the Hokage really needs to question them he can do so at the hospital." Kakashi pushed past the guards and headed towards the hospital. "C'mon you two the doctors need to examine you too."

The Hokage was already waiting at the hospital. "What's going on Kakashi?"

"Naruto brought these two back to life."

"What? Are you sure? Are you sure they were actually dead?" A look of disbelief was clearly etched onto the Hokage's face.

"I personally ran my arm through Haku's heart. And Zabuza bled out three feet away. And trust me I know what a person whose bled out looks like."

"I see..." The Hokage was lost in thought for a moment. "I'll have the medics examine them immediately."

After three hours of intrusive examinations the medics brought their findings Hokage and Kakashi. "We've isolated the cause of Naruto's coma. Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku were resuscitated with large quantities of Naruto's Yang Chakra, at the moment Naruto has almost no Yang chakra left. Unfortunately due to his…_condition_… he has a severe imbalance of his yin/yang chakras. He has an excess Yang chakra due to the presence of the Kyuubi's Yang chakra. If his chakra was balanced he probably wouldn't have used enough of his Yang Chakra to make him pass out." The medic read from his notes. "As far as I can tell he will recover on his own in a week or two."

_**Konoha: Seven Months, Eighteen Days ago:**_

Naruto woke slowly. His whole body hurt, "Where am I? He asked as the room began to swim into view.

"N-Naruto-kun! You're awake!" turning his head he saw Hinata sitting next to him.

"Oh, Kami... I'm in the hospital aren't I?" Naruto looked panic stricken. "Wait! What happened to Haku and Zabuza! Before I passed out I could have sworn that they opened their eyes."

"H-Haku is sleeping in the ch-chair on the other side of your b-bed. She's h-had a very stressful few w-weeks."

"A few weeks? Hinata-chan how long have I been asleep for?"

"Um…Th-th-three weeks…the d-doctors said you used up a-all of your Yang ch-chakra."

"Hm…Oh! Naruto-kun! You're awake!" Haku woke up when she heard Hinata talking. "I wanted to thank you for saving us."

"I'm sorry Haku. I almost killed you for no reason."

"I'm glad for what happened. I found out something that made me really happy!"

"Really? What happened?"

"Well… let me tell you."

_**Konoha: Seven Months, Twenty-Seven Days ago:**_

"Haku, I need to talk to you." Zabuza looked nervous.

"What's the matter Zabuza-sama?"

"I need to talk to you about why I brought you with me."

"Didn't you want me for my Kekkei Genkai?"

"No, not really. How do I say this?" Zabuza scratched the back of his head. "I never should have left you there in the first place."

"What are you talking about Zabuza-sama?" Haku was getting worried, Zabuza was acting weird. "You never left me anywhere…"

"Yes, yes I did actually. I left you with your mother, when I began my mission to free Kiri from Yagura."

"What do you mean Zabuza-sama?" Haku's heart was beating at a mile a minute. 'He can't mean…can he?'

"The man you killed wasn't your father…" Zabuza looked broken.

As he struggled to say the next part Haku interrupted. "D-Do you mean that…that…_you're_ my father?"

Zabuza, still unable to speak nodded his head. "I-I-I'm sorry Haku, I should have been there for you."

_**Konoha: Seven Months, Eighteen Days ago:**_

"Wow! Haku that's amazing!" Naruto cheered.

"Yeah I've never been so happy!"

A few moments later Kakashi entered the room with Sasuke in tow. "Ah, you're awake." Kakashi smiled when he saw Naruto. "I have some news for you that I think you'll like."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"The Hokage wants to enter your team in the up coming Chunin exams."

"When is it? " Sasuke asked.

"It's in six months. To qualify for the exams there's a set number of missions that you have complete successfully. We're going to have a very busy few months. But first we need to see how much you've degraded during your month long coma, Naruto. And Jiraiya says the medics solved one of the problems he was having with your training. So we have a month of training before we go back to missions." Kakashi turned to leave. "Oh, and before I forget both missions were bumped up to A-Rank. Congratulations, you're the only Genin team in Konoha that currently has two A-ranks under their belts.

_**Road to Konoha, Present Day:**_

"So Sensei insisted that hey enter the Chunin exams?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya. They were almost half way to Konoha now. And Tsunade wondered how much more of the story there was to tell.

"Yeah, he wanted the best Konoha had to offer, and he believed that Team Seven had the most potential. The decision probably saved his life."

"So are you going to tell us about the Chunin exams next?" Shizune asked Jiraiya.

"No, there's a few more things to talk about before we get to the Chunin exams"

**A/N Yes I know that in canon Zabuza would have been twelve when Haku was born. He's older (30) here and Haku is younger (13 1/2), and I thought it was an interesting take on their relationship that I personally have never seen.**

**Are there any filler episodes you'd like to see in-between now and the Chunin exam?**


	19. XVIII: A Chance Encounter

**A/N Going Over my earlier chapters I've noticed a few major mistakes. After I finish part one I plan on going back over the story fixing mistakes and refining my style, and clearing any plot holes and inconsistencies I find. I estimate that there will be a week long Hiatus between parts one and two while I look for and fix these mistakes. If you could PM me any of the mistakes you find it would save me a lot of trouble. Also if theres any Japanese words you feel I regularly misspell, or if there are better spellings for please tell me. Thank you for your assistance.**

_**Road To Konoha Present Day:**_

"Jiraiya-sama, why haven't you shown up recently in the story?" Shizune had been wondering why Jiraiya hadn't mentioned himself for the last few hours.

"For the last two years of the story I had been focusing on my spy network, I came back twice a month to change Naruto's training regime as I saw fit." Jiraiya shrugged, "But I was in the village when he came back, and I didn't leave until after he woke up."

"How come you didn't teach him Kushina's Chakra Chains technique?" Tsunade had seen what Kushina could do with them, "I know you know how she made them."

"I tried but there was something off with the Kid's chakra. I'll explain it soon. Any other questions?"

"Yeah what about Zabuza, did he stay in Konoha? And what about the rest of the rookies?" Shizune wondered what had been going on with his childhood friends.

"Zabuza stuck around for a while. His 'sentence' as for being a Missing-nin who interfered with a mission was community service. He had to do one hundred D-ranks." Jiraiya snickered at the thought of the large man babysitting, "The funny thing was, he actually enjoyed himself, it probably helped that the Hokage actually paid him for the missions. Before the whole fiasco with the Chunin exams, Sensei was contemplating inviting him to join the village as a Jonin"

_**Konoha: Seven Months, Sixteen Days ago:**_

It took two days for the hospital to discharge him. After he got out he headed to the Hokage's office to collect his pay checks for his first two A-rank missions. "Iruka-sensei! How are you? I haven't seen you in ages!" Naruto jumped over the desk Iruka was working at and gave him a bear hug. "I'm here to collect my pay from my last two missions!"

Iruka began to shuffle through papers on the desk, "Let's see…Ah here it is! Uzumaki Naruto, Pay: 1400000 Ryo. For: 2 A-ranks? That can't be right!" Iruka looked up at Naruto confusion clearly written all over his face. "Tell you what Naruto; I'll take you out for ramen if you tell me what your mission was and why it's worth One million two hundred thousand Ryo."

Naruto smiled but shook his head, "How about I treat _you_ to ramen and we have the discussion anyways?" Laughing Iruka agreed to let Naruto treat him to ramen for lunch. While eating, Naruto told Iruka what had happened in Wave. Needless to say Iruka was shocked when Naruto told him how he had apparently brought two people back from the dead.

"Wow, Naruto that's an amazing story… I guess that answered my other question."

"What other question Iruka-sensei?"

"If what you did, used up enough Yang chakra to put you in a coma, it certainly used up enough to turn your hair white."

"MY HAIR'S WHITE?" Naruto, who hadn't looked in a mirror since he woke up jumped out of his seat and nearly ran for the hospital.

"Just a little around your temple, you didn't notice?"

"I…uh…haven't looked in a mirror yet…" Naruto sheepishly answered while rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's barely noticeable, Naruto sit abck down and keep eating,"

After finishing lunch (twenty five bowls of ramen) Naruto headed straight to head to Training Ground Zero. "ERO-SENSEI I'M HERE!"

"You don't need to shout brat, I'm right here." Jiraiya said from behind Naruto. Placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder he continued. "I heard what happened in Wave. I'm proud of you Naruto." Naruto's smile warmed Jiraiya heart. "I have some good news for you. Remember how I tried to teach you Uzumaki style Jutsu?" Seeing the crestfallen look on Naruto's face, Jiraiya interrupted, "Cut that out, brat, I'm trying to tell you I figured out why you couldn't do them."

"You did? What was I doing wrong?"

"Nothing, I should have figured out the problem on my own. You know how your father only sealed half the Kyuubi in you?"

"Yeah Kurama always complains about it, at least when he's awake."

"To suppress the Kyuubi's Yang chakra, your body produced an excess of Yin chakra. Uzumaki style jutsu, like combat seals and Chakra chains all require large quantities of Yang chakra, too much Yin and the Jutsu fizzles."

"Does that mean I can never learn my own clan's styles?" Naruto hung his head; sure, it was nice to know why he couldn't do those jutsu but it really hurt to think he wouldn't be able to use his mother's techniques as well.

"Of course not Naruto!" Jiraiya was clearly happy, and that brought some small measure of hope too Naruto. "All you have to do is learn to separate Yang from Yin your chakra, then recombine it two parts Yang to one Yin. Now you won't be able to use it as long an Uzumaki with normal chakra would, but you would still have them!"

"Really? So what do I have to do to?"

"More chakra control exercises!" Jiraiya loved the look of agony on Naruto's face, he knew the brat _hated_ chakra control exercises, and he was running out of ways to get Naruto to actually do them. This, he figured, was perfect. "I know you don't like chakra control exercises, but you need good control to be able to separate your chakra and recombine it in different ratios. Look at it this way Naruto, if you do these exercises not only will you be able to use your mother's techniques but you'll master your father's."

"I already can do Rasengan! And you won't teach me Hirashin…."

"Yes you can do Rasengan, but of the three people in the world who can, you're the worst. If you want to master it, properly, you need to be able to do it one handed and instantly. You still need a clone to do it, and it takes you too long to actually make it." Seeing the look of anger building up on Naruto's face he continued, "Look Naruto, if I'm harsh on you about things like this it's because I believe you can actually complete Rasengan. Maybe one day you can complete Hirashin as well."

"What do you mean ero-sensei? Aren't Rasengan and Hirashin complete?"

"No there not, at least as far as your father was concerned, he wanted the Rasengan to be the ultimate seal-less jutsu capable of being any element the user mastered. And as for the Hirashin he was working on making the beacons unnecessary before he died." Jiraiya patted Naruto's shoulder, "Come on Kid, we need to get to work on advanced chakra control."

After the day's training he, along with the rest of Team Seven decided to hang out together in one of the parks. "Hey guys we should grab Zabuza and Haku, they must be lonely here by themselves!"

"M-M-maybe we sh-should introduce them t-to the other teams too?" Despite her quiet rivalry with Haku, Hinata still wanted Haku to have friends in the village.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't care one way or the other.

"Stay here then, I'll go get them!" Naruto ran off to find Haku and Zabuza. A few seconds after he left Team Eight, minus Sakura and Team Ten arrived at the park.

"hey, where's Naruto?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke.

"Hn."

"I don't speak grunt, Sasuke. I lack the troublesome blondes talent in that area."

"He s-said that N-Naruto-kun went to get o-our two new friends, that c-came back w-with us from our l-last mission."

Shikamaru blinked, and after a moment he said, "Is than actually what he said? Or is that what he should have said?"

"B-Both, He's going to come b-back with Momochi Zabuza, and his d-daughter Haku." She turned to Sasuke, "D-Do you know, if Haku is g-going by Yuki or Momochi now?"

"Dunno ask her yourself."

"Wait Naruto's new friend is a _girl._" Kiba asked, "And you haven't killed her in her sleep yet Hinata? She must… be… really…ugly…" Haku had just entered the park, dragging Zabuza by his wrist, while Naruto chatted amiably with her. "Uh…bwah?" Kiba's brain had melted when he saw Haku.

"Troublesome…"

When Haku arrived at their table Shino turned to her and said, "You broke my teammate." He gave Kiba a gentle push which toppled the stunned boy over. "See?"

"Give him five minutes to recover and he'll be all over you like a bad case of the fleas," Ino said to Haku, "I'm Yamanaka Ino. This," she poked Shikamaru, who had almost immediately started cloud watching, "lazy bum is my teammate Nara Shikamaru," she pointed to Choji, who was sitting with Shikamaru, and now Naruto, eating a bag of chips, "He's my other teammate, Akamichi Choji. It's very nice to meet you."

"Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura isn't here yet." Shino said pointing to himself then Kiba.

"I'm Momochi Haku and he's…" she looked around trying to find her father, before noticing he was sitting between Choji and Shikamaru, watching clouds with them, "He's my father Momochi Zabuza. We were on opposite sides during their mission to Wave, but Naruto still saved our lives."

"What village are you from?"

"Kiri technically, but my father hates the Mizukage for starting the Kekkei Genkai wars that claimed my mother's life."

"So you're missing-nin then?" Shikamaru asked Zabuza, suddenly nervous about sitting next to a known criminal.

"Yeah, but the revolution can't be stopped, even with out me I'd give it two years tops before Yagura is deposed and a new Mizukage is chosen. It's likely to be my second in command, Terumi Mei."

"Why not you? If you're in charge of the rebellion, shouldn't it be you?"

"I don't really care about the village; it's just revenge for me." Zabuza shrugged.

"Hey, where's Sakura?" Naruto asked, he had greeted everyone else and he wondered if Sakura still hated him enough to not show up.

"She was with her mother when I saw her last." Kiba, who had finally come back to reality, said. "I think she'll be here soon."After fifteen minutes of small talk, chatting about training and missions. Two pink heads of hair could be seen walking through the crowds. "There she is!" Kiba shouted

The one thing that no-one expected, however was the mutual reaction shared by Zabuza and Sakura's mother, Haruno Umeko.

"You!" Zabuza shouted, jumping up and grabbing his sword.

"What are you doing here!" Umeko was panicking backing away slowly.

"You set me up!" Zabuza stalked forwards weapon drawn.

"Whoa, whoa! What's going on here?" Naruto asked stepping in between them.

"Remember how we first met kid? She set that up."

"She did WHAT?" Now Naruto was stalking towards the clearly terrified woman.

"You stay away from my mother!" Sakura jumped in front of Naruto.

"Hinata, get Jiraiya and the Hokage! I'll try to keep them from killing her until he arrives." Sasuke said, "Now!"

"Sakura if what Zabuza said is true, she tried to have me killed!" Naruto tried to push past Sakura, and Umeko turned to run, but before anyone could get anywhere, they found themselves wrapped up by Sasuke's ninja-wire.

"Now let's just wait until the Hokage get's here. I'm sure he'll sort everything out."

Fifteen minutes later the Hokage and Jiraiya arrived to find Zabuza, Naruto, Sakura, and Umeko, strung up like puppets while Sasuke controlled them from the tree above them, much to the amusement of the people gathered around them. "You shall have one other soon, Judy, my dear. More where that come from."

"Sasuke, either you let me down, or give me a cut of the money, or when I free myself I _will_ kill you." Naruto growled.

"Just what is going on here?" the Hokage asked trying not to let his amusement show.

"Um…I was bored?"

"I can see that, I meant why exactly was I summoned here? Hinata wasn't very clear."

Zabuza, who had drifted off during the impromptu puppet show and woken up when the Hokage started speaking said, "That woman arranged my first meeting with Naruto."

"Do you have any proof of this Zabuza? She's a member of the civilian council, and that's a serious accusation."

"HE HAS NOTHING!" Umeko shouted, "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT!"

"Let's take this to my office. This isn't something that should be discussed in public. Teams Eight and Ten come with us, you are witnesses and I might need your testimony." The Hokage said. Nodding his head Sasuke re-wrapped his 'puppets' and dragged them off towards the Hokage's tower. A few minutes later they arrived and were shown into the Hokage's office. "Now what is going on here?"

"She hired me to kill Naruto four years ago."

"My Mother is Innocent!"

"Sakura, calm down, you'll get thrown out, or arrested if you make a scene." Shino whispered to Sakura

"No I did not! Hokage-sama I sincerely hope that you will take my word, that of a civilian council member in good standing over that of a missing-nin wanted for attempting to kill his own Kage!"

Jiraiya, who was glaring daggers at her said, "I hate to tell you Umeko, but your not a council member in good standing, you've been the prime suspect in a number of attempts on Naruto's life. The only reason you haven't been tried for those crimes, is the fact that all the evidence mysteriously disappears, before we can take you to court."

"I have proof; I keep a copy in a storage seal on my wrist, if you'd untie me I could show you." Zabuza said.

"Try anything, and we will kill you." An Anbu said as he cut the wires binding Zabuza.

"Think I'm an idiot?" Zabuza said as he unsealed some documents and a few photos from his wrist, "These are just copies. I keep the originals some where safer." HE handed the papers over to the Hokage.

"I see..." The Hokage said slowly as he read the documents. Looking Haruno Umeko in the eyes he calmly stated, "Haruno Umeko, I formally arrest you for charges of attempted murder of a clan head."

**A/N I screwed up Yin/Yang chakra the last two chapters sorry.**


	20. XIX: The Trial

**A/N Thanks to Brown Phantom, for the reworked Court scene. You, sir, are amazing.**

_**Road To Konoha, Present Day:**_

"Poor Sakura…" Shizune said.

"Yeah she didn't really take it very well."

"Jiraiya, how did the Council take the arrest of one of their members?"

"Poorly."

_**Konoha: Seven Months, Sixteen Days ago:**_

"I see..." The Hokage said slowly as he read the documents. Looking Haruno Umeko in the eyes he calmly stated, "Haruno Umeko, I formally arrest you for charges of attempted murder of a clan head."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME!" Umeko screamed. "I'M A COUNCIL MEMBER!"

"You are a suspected murderer." Jiraiya growled.

"You will be detained in a high security Anbu cell, until the end of your trial. You will be allowed supervised visitors only. Take her away." The Hokage gestured to the Anbu in the room. "Inform the councils of the situation." Turning to the assembled Genin the Hokage continued, "I'm sorry but you'll have to leave now. I will send for you if your testimony is needed."

Outside of the Hokage's office Sakura who had been quietly sobbing turned to Naruto, "I HATE YOU!" she screamed before running off.

Naruto looked crestfallen; one of his first friends hated him, probably forever, and there was nothing he could do about it. Placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder Sasuke said, "C'mon Naruto, it's getting late. We'll need our rest, for training tomorrow."

Meanwhile back in the Hokage's office, the councils had convened. "This is ridiculous!" One of the civilian council members shouted. "You cannot seriously take the word of a missing-nin over one of our own councilors!"

"She has been under suspicion for several years. However due to repeated instances of evidence conveniently disappearing before she could be tried, we've been unable to lawfully arrest her." The Hokage glared at the assembled council members. "All of you are under investigation on grounds of possible conspiracy. Any of her accomplices will be arrested and tried at a later date. Until the investigation is over all of you are to be continually escorted by three Anbu operatives at all times. Any attempts made to interfere in the investigation will result in immediate incarceration until the end of your own trial. Dismissed."

The next morning, Naruto couldn't focus on his training. After three hours of failing to achieve anything he finally gave up. "I'm sorry Ero-Sennin. I just can't focus today."

"What's wrong Kid? You worried about Sakura's mom?"

"I feel bad for Sakura. She's going to lose her mother too isn't she?"

"Yeah she is Kid. But that doesn't mean it's your fault. C'mon lets get back to work." Sighing Naruto tried to focus on his training. By the end of the day he'd made barely any progress in anything.

"There you are Naruto, the Hokage wants to see you." A masked Anbu said to Naruto who was on his way home. Nodding to the Anbu Naruto headed to the Hokage's office.

When he arrived he was ushered into the Hokage's office immediately. "Naruto I wanted to talk to you about, the upcoming trial. Do you have any particular requests?"

"Yeah, I want Sakura to be there."

"Naruto, there's a chance that Umeko will spill your secret in an attempt to validate her own actions. It's a high chance to be honest. And if she does Sakura will most likely ignore the law against it and try to tell the others, just to hurt you."

"Then open up the trial so anyone can come."

"And what if she tells? Granted if she does then we have grounds for execution and the whole trial is pointless. But you shouldn't just ignore the risk to yourself."

"I guess I'll have to take the risk then. She deserves to understand." Naruto sighed, "I wish it was someone else. Sakura is my friend, even if she hates me now."

"I'm sorry Naruto. Maybe you should take the next few days off. Recuperate a little."

The next few days were hard for Naruto. His training was going nowhere, the few times he tried to talk to Sakura she tried to attack him. At not her normal hits, she even tried to gouge his eyes out once this time. Eventually though, he managed to get back into his normal training habits. When his month of training was over he was depressed to hear that due to the trail he wasn't allowed to leave the village for missions.

_**Konoha: Six Months, Twelve Days ago:**_

"I'm afraid, Hokage-sama, that the trial will be impossible. The evidence has disappeared from the court house and the judge refuses to even see the case." A Council member said smugly, too smugly for him to not be involved on some level.

"I will be the judge councilor, and the copy that was in the court house was just that, a copy. The originals will not leave my sight until after the court case. So the evidence to prosecute remains and the trial stands." This was the third attempt to prevent the trial from commencing and the Hokage was getting frustrated. This could not be coincidental, someone was trying to keep Umeko out of trouble here. "As this is the third attempt to derail the trial, all council members are to be placed under house arrest, and the council is to be temporarily disbanded."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" The councilors screamed, in almost perfect unison.

"Actually, if I wanted to I could have all of you executed just because I felt like it. Konoha is a military dictatorship. The council only exists because I felt like giving the people a bit more say in how the city was run. However, because you are abusing it I now feel the need to disband you until further notice. The trial will now commence in three days. Any further attemps to stop the trial will be seen as treason and an admission of guilt on Umeko's part. I am giving her the privilege of having a trial in the first place. Given the crimes I can easily have her executed without anyone even knowing it. I could even hire myself to assassinate her and there would be nothing you could do about it. DO NOT test my patience any further." The Hokage was livid with rage by this point and he wanted to get the trial over and done with.

The next day the date for Haruno Umeko's trail was announced along with a notice that the trial would be open to anyone who wished to come. A dark mood seemed to settle over the village, with the populace divided three ways over the issue. The clans were behind Naruto purely on principle, he was technically one of them and they'd be damned if they let a civilian, even a council member, attempt to assassinate one of the clan heads. The villagers were out for Naruto's blood, Umeko rose to wealth and power by hard work alone though no one was sure how exactly she did it; they only cared that she did. She was a hero to them and Naruto was the fox in human form; that was all they wanted to know. If they could they would easily and shamelessly kill him themselves. The ninja were split down the middle, most of the younger generation of ninja, especially the ones who went to school with Naruto and remembered the poisoning attempts, wanted justice. The older generation was split between the higher level Jonin, who understood exactly how Naruto's seal worked, or knew him personally, and the higher level Genin to mid-Chunin, who were old enough to know that the Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto and saw him as the fox. All in all it looked like the village was minutes away from exploding into a horrendous civil war all because of the question who was more likable, Naruto or Umeko.

As the day of the trial dawned Naruto woke early (He didn't get much sleep) and headed to the amphitheater where the trial was to be held. On the way he met his team, along with Teams Eight and Ten, who were also on their way there. Ino was giving him the cold shoulder; she was obviously on her friend Sakura's side since she had no reason to side with Naruto here instead. Shikamaru, Hinata, and surprisingly Sasuke had tried to cheer him up.

At the moment Kiba seemed to be lost in thought (a strange place for him). Shino and Choji were both silent as usual. Because they were all there when Zabuza and Umeko ran into each other they all had to sit in the witness box.

"At least we have good seats." Kiba said trying to break the tension.

"Hn."

"N-Naruto-kun, are you f-feeling alright?"

"No. No, Hinata I'm not, I've been eavesdropping on the Old Man and Ero-Sennin. The case against her is air tight. Sakura's going to lose her mom and it's my fault. That'll be both her parents. I'm making her into an orphan." Naruto cried, before slumping forward and banging his head on the table a few times, while the red-faced Hinata rubbed his shoulders trying to calm him and ease the tension in his shoulders. "Hmmmm… wow… Hinata, that's wonderful…" for a moment Naruto forgot all about what was around him. But soon enough other people started filing in. A few people who had some evidence to testify had to sit in the witness box with them.

At least the Hokage entered the room, in full ceremonial regalia. "Order, order in the court!" The Hokage shouted banging his fist on the table in front of him. "As you know we are here to try one Haruno Umeko, former member of the Civilian Council, for the attempted murder, of one Uzumaki Naruto, heir and sole surviving member of the famed Uzumaki clan of Uzu no Kuni. Her trial will now commence."

And so the trial began, with different people were called on to testify for both sides. The first person called up to testify was someone who worked at the Academy. "Did you have any interaction with Uzumaki Naruto that Haruno Umeko had some involvement in?" The prosecutor asked.

"No." The witness said, then felt a strong electric shock. "What the hell?"

"Oh you didn't know?" Sarutobi asked. "There are seals here that can detect minute movements in your body; they can tell if you're lying, we have them here to discourage false testimony and give a minor shock to those that try. Each lie makes the shock worse. Keep it up and you'll be taken to Ibiki himself."

"I'll repeat the question; did Haruno Umeko have any influence over how you interacted with Uzumaki Naruto?" The prosecutor pressed.

The Academy employee was tempted to lie again, but electroshock was not something he wanted to repeat. "Y-Yes… She once hired me and several others who had access to the Academy's food to place strange liquids in any meal or drink Naruto purchase. But I myself had no idea what the liquids actually were."

"Did you ever consider the idea these strange liquids were poison?"

"Oh course I did, but I never knew for certain." The witness answered. He sweat a bit, but there was no shock.

"If you had no idea what it was, why did you give it to the child?" The prosecutor asked.

"I was paid to." The witness answered simply.

"That's it?" The prosecutor inquired. The witness nodded. "Then would you have done the same if the accused had paid you to give these exact same liquids to another child?"

"Well, the pay would have had to be a lot higher for that." The witness answered.

"No further questions Hokage-sama."

The defendant had a turn to try and justify the Academy employee's actions, but it's pretty hard to put a positive spin on poisoning a child's food when you can't lie or say anything about the demon inside him if front of others, especially the Hokage. So unless they were already die-hard Naruto-haters, no one was convinced this guy had done something acceptable or even pardonable. And not only that; this guy wasn't the only one paid by Umeko to tamper with his food.

One of the more interesting testimonies came from a woman who was being asked if she had indeed seen Umeko meet up with Zabuza. She remained silent and downcast, and the prosecutor had to repeat his question twice before Sarutobi ordered her to answer.

When she spoke she only had one thing to say. "I refuse to testify on the grounds that my job and family have been threatened if I do."

While not something that could be ignored, ninja cases usually didn't leave it at that. Sarutobi looked at the woman on the stand in the nicest yet still firm way he could. "If you choose not to actually say anything that's your choice. However, due to the nature of the trial and your subtle admittance that you have information important here, we will insist on a Yamanaka examining your memories for the required information."

"Objection." The defendant argued. "The witness clearly exercised her right to remain silent."

"Overruled." Sarutobi say. "Konoha law gives us the right to have an uninvolved Yamanaka examine memories for situations like this. this way we get the information we need for the case to be settled and the witness does not actually testify anything. Yamanaka Inoichi, if you will be come up to the stand."

The Yamanaka head came forward and in his peripheral vision he could see Umeko scowl but look nervous. Obviously she had failed to take this turn of events into account. Ignoring that he went to the witness. "Just relax. You won't be harmed." She closed her eyes and he placed a palm on her forehead. "Memory Scan Jutsu."

Everyone waited for Inoichi to finish, which didn't take long. "What did you uncover?" Sarutobi asked.

"According to her memories, Haruno Umeko did indeed arrange a meeting with Momochi Zabuza some time ago and paid him to murder Naruto however he saw fit. She failed to tell him Naruto was capable of defending himself, but she did encourage him to be as brutally creative in the killing as possible. And if he could bring her a sort of trophy from his death she's give him bonus pay." Inoichi explained.

"I did not!" Umeko shouted shrilly.

Inoichi gave her a stern expression. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"If you're saying that about me then hell yes I am!" Umeko responded matter-of-factly.

After that several more witnesses were asked to testify, some also refusing to under claims of threats which Inoichi had to examine. Some people tried to defend Umeko's case, but by the end of the trial, it became clear to those watching that the woman had attempted, repeatedly, to kill Naruto. All such attempts were indirect, but they originated from her. Some were horrified she had done that so many times, and some were upset she hadn't yet succeeded.

Near the end of the trial, Umeko finally broke. "I don't care anymore! If you're going to kill me do it now!" She had started to scream. "SO WHAT IF I WANTED TO KILL THE DEMON? I'm entitled to! He took everything from me! My parents! My grandparents! My brother! My husband! That cursed fox took everything from me! We should have killed him when he was a baby!" seeing the direction her rant was going the Hokage gestured to some Anbu to gag her, but it was too late. "The Kyuubi took everything from me! Why shouldn't I take his life from him!" silence fell over the court. The adults were silent because they knew the punishment for revealing the secret, death. The children were silent from shock, staring at Naruto with disbelief in their eyes. He was the Kyuubi? Or was this just the ranting of a madwoman? She had raised her arm to point at Naruto during her rant. "DIE MONSTER!" she screamed and with a flick of her wrist a senbon flew out of a launcher mounted on her arm.

The distance was so short and the attack so unexpected that the ninja in the room barely had time to react before the projectile impacted squarely in Naruto's chest. Naruto's fingers brushed the senbon imbedded in his chest, before he could pull it out, his fingers started to burn.

As he fell over he heard someone shout "MEDIC!"


	21. XX: Aftermath

_**Road to Konoha, Present Day:**_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jiraiya! I thought you said he was immune to poison!"

"Yeah he is, Hime, but it wasn't poison, it was a potent acid."

"Why didn't the try that earlier?" As a poisons user Shizune had already concluded that something highly corrosive would work better than normal poison.

"Because a lunch box melting isn't suspicious at all?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "After all, they were trying to be subtle at that point. A senbon launcher needs to be awfully close to penetrate deep enough to kill, and there would be witnesses"

"How strong was the acid?" Tsunade wanted to know what the boy's tolerances were, especially if she was going to treat him.

"You or me, we'd have been dead in seconds after being hit with that dart. On the Kid it barely beat his regeneration."

"How did she get the senbon launcher past the guards, Jiraiya-sama?"

"She didn't, I personally think it was one of Danzo's men that gave it to her."

_**Konoha: Four Months, Twenty-Two Days Ago:**_

Naruto woke slowly, his chest felt like it was on fire, every breath felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart, the room swam in and out of focus and his ears buzzed with a strange ringing noise. "I'm in the hospital again aren't I?" he mumbled out loud.

"N-Naruto-kun is awake!" A voice, Hinata probably, said from his bedside. "Th-They said you wouldn't b-b-be asleep for l-long!"

As the room swam into focus Naruto saw six people surrounding his bed, Shikamaru and Choji from Team Ten, Shino and Kiba from team Eight, and his own teammates Hinata and Sasuke. "I don't see any torches and pitchforks. Is it safe to assume you don't want to kill me?"

"No, but we do want to talk to you about what Sakura's mom said before she shot you." Sasuke said from Naruto's left.

"B-B-But, if you r-really d-don't want to t-talk about it y-y-you don't h-have t-to. We can w-wait until you're r-ready to t-tell us." Hinata, who, Naruto noticed, look rather pale, stuttered from his right.

Naruto was silent for a long time, lost deep in thought. Eventually he decided that since they already knew about the fox he might as well talk to them about it. "Alright ask away."

"Are you really the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" Kiba asked.

"No, The Kyuubi wasn't killed like they taught us in school, you can't kill a Bijuu anyways; all the do is disperse for a time before they come back. The Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into a newborn infant barely an hour old, me."

"We tried to talk to the adults about it but they refused to talk to us about it." Shikamaru said, "Why?"

"It's an S-rank secret, punishable by death. After all if your parents were allowed to tell you would any of you have taken the time to get to know me?"

"What's it like having a giant fox sealed in you?" Choji asked between mouthfuls of chips.

"Kurama isn't so bad himself, but te villagers treat me like dirt."

The assembled Genin shared a worried look; Hinata was the first to speak, "K-K-Kurama?"

"Yeah you didn't think 'Kyuubi' was Kurama's name did you?"

"You're on a first name basis with the Kyuubi?" Shino sounded worried.

"I doubt you'll believe me but the Kyuubi was being controlled when he attacked Konoha."

"What! Who has that kind of power?" Kiba had jumped out of his chair terrified at the idea of someone capable of forcing something like the Kyuubi to bend to his will.

"I-If you p-paid attention in c-class, K-Kiba," Hinata reprimanded the boy, "You'd have known that Uchiha Madara was capable of controlling the Kyuubi, He used it in his fight against the Shodai Hokage who defeated it."

"One of my ancestors was capable of that?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, and Kurama thinks I should kill you in your sleep to and I quote 'Remove the blighted Uchiha once and for all!' I don't think you two would get along very well. Mostly because the second person to force the Kyuubi to do his bidding was a masked Uchiha with one eye."

Sasuke was lost in thought for a moment, "Tell me, why it is that Konoha is crazy about the Uchiha again? I want revenge for my family, but the more I learn the more it sounds like Itachi had the right idea, maybe I should send him a fruit basket before I kill him?" He mused aloud.

"So…guys…do you hate me? Are you afraid of me? Do you think I'm actually the Kyuubi in disguise?" Naruto asked nervously.

"I'm terrified." Shino said flatly, before anyone could interrupt him he raised a hand and continued, "I actually understand how normal people see my clan now. But I understand the feeling of being ostracized for something you have sealed inside you. So yes I'm afraid of you, but that doesn't mean I'm not your friend. Even if you actually are the fox."

Kiba spoke next, "As far as I'm concerned, foxes are just sneaky dogs. Sneaky is good, dogs are cool, so I have no problem with you." The others, even Naruto, facepalmed at Kiba's simplicity."

"I-I-I'm sc-c-cared," Hinata stuttered looking down, for a reason he couldn't explain it felt like his world had just come crashing down. "W-W-What if more p-p-people try to k-k-kill you? N-N-Now that I know w-w-why they want to k-kill you I c-can't see them ever stopping, what if they w-w-win? Wh-wh-what i-if you d-d-d-die?" Hinata was crying by the end of her speech. And the little light in Naruto's head clicked on, she wasn't scared _of_ him she was scared _for_ him.

Placing his hand on her shoulder Naruto said, "Don't worry Hinata, they can try everything, but I won't die! I promise!"

Smiling weakly at his bravado Hinata dried her eyes and tried to give him a watery smile. "I'm h-h-holding y-y-you t-to that Naruto-kun."

Choji didn't feel the need to say much he just offered Naruto his bag of chips and asked "Chip?"

Shikamaru was the second to last to speak, "Naruto I honestly can't tell you if I believe you're the fox or not. And if it's had any influence on you it's all been positive anyways."

"What do you mean Shikamaru?"

"Your cunning, like a fox, devious and clever, those are all good traits for a ninja to have. But it doesn't matter. I've known you since I was six, and I can safely say that no matter what you are, I'm proud to call you my friend."

Sasuke had been silent during the discussion. After thinking for a few more minutes he finally spoke, "I'm actually quite happy with this." Ignoring the confused stares everyone gave him he continued, "It doesn't even matter if you're the fox or not, the only ninja my age that can rival me is or holds one of the most powerful things in existence in his stomach!" he began to laugh for no really apparent reason.

"Soooo… what happened after I passed out?" Naruto asked, deciding that it was best to ignore Sasuke who was laughter was quite disturbing.

"Well," Shikamaru said, "It wasn't pretty."

_**Six Hours Earlier:**_

"_MEDIC!"_

There was a moment of chaos some people ran for it, others ducked under their tables some charged Naruto, either intending to help him or make sure he stayed down. A wall of ninja formed around him keeping everyone but the medics away from him, although his friends managed to slip into the inner circle to be with him. Meanwhile a group of Anbu dog-piled Umeko, disarming her and pinning her to the ground.

One medic immediately tried to pull the senbon out of Naruto's heart. "AHRG my fingers!"

"Careful, it's acid! Get me the forceps!" another shouted, as soon as they forceps were in his hand he pulled senbon out of Naruto's chest, by the time they hit the ground the forceps had already started to corrode. "Damn that's strong! The senbon missed his heart but the acid's going to get there soon! Flush the wound!"

"What I missed! NO! NO! No! No! No…no…no…"Umeko began to sob. "WHY! Why can't I take him with me! Is justice to much to ask for?" She began to struggle. "I'll let you kill me just please let me take him with me! He took everything from me! And it wasn't enough for him, no; he tried to take my daughter too! I won't let him hurt her too! LET ME KILL HIM!"

Meanwhile the medics had managed to flush the acid out of Naruto's chest, but it already seemed too late. Naruto's heart had shuddered to a crawl, his heartbeat irregular and jerky. The head medic immediately started CPR, "Who's skilled in the defrib jutsu? C'mon, kid don't give up!" The medic said as Naruto's regeneration slowed down, leaving the wound half open. Hinata was sobbing, she wanted to be with Naruto, but the medics wouldn't let her get any closer. Sasuke, whose skin had gone ashen, tried his best to comfort her; worry etched onto his face.

A young medic with ash grey hair and large circular glasses pushed his way through the group, "I am sir!" he made the hand-seals for the jutsu, faint sparks of electricity began to move up and down his fingers.

"Kabuto you're here! Thank Kami!" Relived to see the talented young medic here the head medic let Kabuto work.

"Clear!" Kabuto shocked Naruto, causing his body to jerk suddenly. Crying out, Hinata tried to push her way to Naruto but Sasuke wouldn't let her interfere. "Clear!" Kabuto shouted again, this time there was a gasp along with the jerk, "Clear!" this time, after the spasm, Naruto's heart rate returned to normal, and he started breathing again. Kabuto sat back with a sigh of relief, the defibrillation jutsu required such a high level of control that it was beyond most medics to perform. Kabuto stared at Naruto's chest as blood red chakra began to flow from the wound. In its wake Naruto's regeneration seemed to accelerate, going from gaping whole to star shaped scar in seconds. "He's a tough kid," Kabuto said turning to look at Naruto's assembled friends, "He shouldn't be out for more than eight hours." Getting up, rather shakily, Kabuto started to walk away, waving over his shoulder, "Make sure he takes care of himself, I won't always be there to save him."

The now thoroughly secured Haruno Umeko was crying again. "Why haven't you killed me yet?" she sobbed. "I want to _die_ kill me, please. I miss my family so much…"

Sighing, the Hokage decided to pas his judgment, "After what you did today I should have you executed. But you're clearly emotionally unstable, and obviously have been since before your daughter was born." Running his hand through his grey hair the Hokage continued, "In light of recent events I deem you clinically insane, you are to remain in an asylum until a team of psychiatrists deem you fit to rejoin society. After your stay at the asylum, you will be under house arrest. Men take her away." A group of Anbu dragged the sobbing woman away. Sighing the Hokage headed over to Naruto's group in time to see Kabuto stand. Stopping the young man before he could get far the Hokage said, "I want to see you do well in the Chunin exams this year, have a little faith in yourself, don't give up this time."

"Yeas, Hokage-sama." Kabuto gave his Kage a salute, "Now if you'll excuse me I have a date with some seafood. I'm starving." Kabuto said with a faint smirk on his face.

_**Konoha General Hospital**_

When Shikamaru finished his story Naruto turned to his teammates, "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Do it again and I'll kill you myself, Fishcake." Sasuke grumbled, clearly embarrassed at being caught worrying about his rival.

Hinata didn't say anything at first; she just latched onto him, in a rather tight hug. She let go right before she felt her blush overwhelm her, "N-N-Naruto-kun," she sniffled, "Never do that to me again."

"I promise that I'll do my best not to make you worry like that ever again, Hinata-chan." He turned to Shikamaru and asked, "What was that medics name? I'd like to send him a thank you card, and maybe a fruit basket or something."

"Yakushi Kabuto, he's technically still a Genin if what I overheard was correct, but he's supposed to be the best medic Konoha has produced since Tsunade."

"Wow, he sounds cool! I hope I get to meet him and say thanks!"

Naruto was less than enthused to find out that he was confined to the hospital for another three days, he had hoped to start taking missions as soon as the trial was over. But he could wait the extra week, to make sure he was in top condition for what ever mission the Hokage gave him.

_**Unknown Location**_

"The plans are coming together master." A voice said in the dark.

"Good, good." A second voice chuckled sinisterly from the shadows, "Soon my plan shall come to fruition and I shall have my vengeance on the ones who wronged me."

**A/N Thanks to Brown Phantom for pointing out that my poll wasn't displaying, I apologize to those ofy you who went to my profile to vote and found nothing. It's there now (I checked! I swear!) so cast your vote! I hope you liked this chapter it was much easier to write then yesterdays. **


	22. XXI: Waterfall

**A/N Go read 'Chapter XIX: The Trial' again. Brown Phantom worked some kind of voodoo magic on it, It's awesome now! Yesterday's chapter didn't happen for personal reasons, but it gave me the idea I needed to make this chapter better. Also I had to watch the OVA a few times because I had never seen it before.**

_**Road To Konoha, Present Day:**_

"Why didn't Sensei execute her? I would have, she deserved to die!" Tsunade wasn't happy that the murderous Haruno Umeko got off so easily.

"Well, I'm not the only one too agree with you…But the woman was clearly broken, mentally, and besides, I think it was the cruelest thing he could have done to her."

"What do you mean?"

"She _wanted_ to die, Tsunade. Not killing her, and placing her somewhere where she wouldn't be allowed to die was the best punishment he could give her."

"I guess, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Tsunade sighed. "That Kabuto kid sounds interesting."

"He is, Tsunade, trust me."

_**Konoha: Four Months, Fourteen Days Ago:**_

Naruto was finally cleared to go on missions again, and he couldn't be happier it had been four months since he had done anything really exciting but he still managed to end up in the hospital twice.

"All right, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto was hoping up and down with excitement. "What's our mission?"

"I picked us something nice and simple, a C-rank escort."

"HOLD UP! Kakashi-sensei, remember what happened on the _last_ C-rank escort?"

"We knew that wasn't actually a C-rank from the beginning. This is a nice simple escort all we have to do is get him from point A to point B. What can go wrong?"

Naruto facepalmed at his sensei's choice of words, even he knew not to say something like that, "We're doomed. We're all gonna die… thanks a lot Kakashi-sensei!"

"No need to be so melodramatic, Naruto, come on Sasuke and Hinata are already waiting with our client at the north gate."

"So who are we taking and where are we taking them too?"

"He's a Chunin from Takigakure, his father was the leader of Takigakure before him and when he passed they wanted him to be the next leader."

"If he's a Chunin why does he need out help?"

"It's a long ways a way, and as leader of Takigakure he has to make sure he stays safe during the trip."

"Wait, he's the leader of a hidden village and he's only a Chunin?" Naruto's brain processed things slower than his mouth did.

When they reached the gates they came upon a rather unique sight, their client who was at least a head taller than Sasuke, was hiding behind the smaller boy apparently hiding from something.

"Shibuki-san, it's j-j-just a squirrel." Hinata said while Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"I-I knew that!" Shibuki said while dusting himself off, "It just startled me that's all!"

"This coward is who we've got to protect? It's going to take forever if he's always this jumpy." Naruto grumbled. Why did they get the crappy escorts?

"This stupid looking midget's the last member of the team?" Shibuki was annoyed at Naruto's insult, so he decided to give the blond a taste of his own medicine.

"The last time someone made a crack about my height I ended up dragging him for a mile by his ankle over bumpy road…" Naruto growled. "I'd think very carefully about making short jokes, or saying the word 'super' around me. Got it?" Naruto's mismatched eyes flashed dangerously.

"A-Alright! I won't make fun of your height, no need to go psycho like that!"

"Calm down Naruto. Even though our client is a ninja it will still take a day and a half to get to Takigakure. We still need two more C or higher missions if we want to enter the Chunin exams this year. So we need to hurry." Kakashi said as he led the way out of Konoha.

_**Six O'clock That Evening, Konoha High Security Asylum.**_

"Haruno Umeko, you have a visitor." A white coated psychiatrist said to the pink haired woman, currently bound in a straight jacket.

"I don't want to see anyone…"

"It's your daughter."

"Fine…"

She allowed herself to be led to the visitation room. Her arms were unbound but her shackles were secured to the chair bolted to the floor. A few minutes later Sakura was led into the room. The guard sat her at the table across from her mother. "You too have a nice chat." The guard said before shutting the door on them giving them some semblance of privacy.

"Mother…Why?"

"He's an evil demon Fox! He took everything from me!"

"What about me? Don't you care that I'm going to be all alone until the Hokage lets you out?"

"Of course I care! I did this for you! The fox was after you next, I could see it in the way he looked at you! You were his next target!"

"A-Are you s-sure?" Sakura couldn't believe it, Naruto was a demon fox? And he wanted to kill her?

"Of course I'm sure, dear. He eyed you like a hungry fox eyes a rabbit!" Umeko however wasn't done poisoning her own daughter. "Please Sakura, please finish what I started! Get vengeance for our family! You're the only one left, our family's name cries out for the blood of the one who killed us! Avenge us!" Before she could continue the guard came in.

"Alright already, shut up woman keep ranting like that and you'll lose all visitation rights you have." The guard muzzled Umeko and bound her arms once again. "Sorry missy, But your mother's gone over her 'rant-at-people' allowance for the day, time for you to go. Shoo-Shoo"

"I'll think about what you said Mother."

_**Midnight, Konoha High Security Asylum.**_

Umeko was sleeping fitfully, in her padded cell. Even when she slept she was denied use of her arms, and she had to sleep on the floor, she was on suicide watch, and wasn't allowed anything that she could conceivably hurt herself with.

The door to her cell opened soundlessly in the dark. The footsteps of the man who slipped into her cell were muffled by the thick padding. But nevertheless, Umeko woke with a start before either of them could speak. "You! I remember those masks!" The masked man wore a plain white porcelain mask, with the Kanji for 'root' on the left side.

"I come bearing a message from Danzo-sama." The masked ninja said.

"The Demon! Did you get him? Is he finally dead?"

"No, this is the message." The man raised his right hand and pointed it at her heart. He shot her in the heart with the same weapon she used against Naruto. As she collapsed on the ground already unable to scream from the acid eating it's way through her body the ninja whispered the last words she'd ever hear "That is where the heart is."

_**The Next Day: Noon, Entrance to Takigakure:**_

The trip there was uneventful, although they were slowed down by Shibuki's apparent fear of small harmless woodland creatures. "Finally! That was the most boring mission ever!" Naruto groused when they reached the hidden entrance to Takigakure, which fittingly, was a waterfall. "Mission accomplished?"

"Yes, yes thank you, now leave." Shibuki said dismissively.

"WHAT WAS THAT SHIBUKI?"

"Naruto, think for a moment, to enter his village he ahs to take a secret path, if we see where he goes, it's not secret anymore." Sasuke said.

"He's right, now scram."

Before they could leave two small children ran up to them giggling. "Shibuki-sama, Shibuki-sama!"

"I'm sorry kids I don't have time to play."

"That's not it our mother asked us to clean up the garbage around the entrance! Will you help us."

"Hey you guys, how about another mission?"

"You'll have to pay us for that too. You already said we completed our contract." Kakashi said, his one visible eye already locked onto the pages of Icha Icha Paradise.

"Sensei…" Naruto whined.

"Every mission counts, Naruto. Now get to garbage picking." Kakashi sat down to enjoy his book.

After an hour of garbage picking a hawk swooped out of the sky, startling Shibuki, who fell into the water. "A-Are w-we under a-atack?"

"No, it's a messenger hawk, air mail." Kakashi unfolded the message from the hawk's leg.

"W-What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"It's a high priority summons. Something bad happened last night, and the Hokage called an emergency Jonin Council."

"What's that Kakashi?" Sasuke had never heard of the 'Jonin Council' before.

"Something's gone wrong in Konoha and with the Civilian Council shut down, the Jonin have to step up and assist the Hokage. We're normally only called for in a time of war."

"So we're leaving now?" Naruto couldn't wait to get back maybe he'd get a real mission next time.

"No I have to move fast, finish this mission and then head back on your own. Be careful though. I have no clue what this meeting is for." Kakashi sped of faster than any of them had ever seen him move before.

Sighing Naruto said, "Alright Duck-butt let's hurry and finish this blasted mission."

Half an hour later they had picked up the last piece of garbage and were preparing to go home when a woman staggered towards them, "Sh-Shibuki-sama, th-th-the v-village! I-It w-was terrible! They came from nowhere and…" she slumped forward, with a kunai lodged in her back.

"Mother!" the kids ran to the woman "What's wrong with her?"

Hinata bent down next to the woman, and began to examine her wound. Pulling the Kunai from her back Hinata began to spread her special ointment on the wound, "She'll be fine, but for now she's just unconscious."

Naruto and Sasuke suddenly perked up "GET DOWN!" They shouted to the others.

"Naruto you guard Shibuki, I'll take care of the attackers!"

Four ninja came out of the water fall, "Looks like he brought company." The man who spoke was apparently the leader of this group, he had grey chin length hair held off of his face by a hitai-ate with four vertical lines, and a teal line across his nose. "Kill them!" he commanded. The three ninja with him threw a hail of kunai at gathered figures below. Sasuke countered with a Fuuma Shuriken, that he guided with his ninja wire. With the first pass he knocked the kunai out of the air. The four ninjas dodged out of its path, only to be surprised by a second Shuriken hidden in the first's shadow. Two of them managed to dodge the second shuriken only to be surprised as the first came at them from behind, only the one with the teal line on his face managed to escape this time. "Damn it he's good." The man with the teal mark disappeared into the falls.

"You missed one Duck-butt!"

"And you wouldn't have Fishcake?"

"Actually I wouldn't have thrown a fuuma shuriken, I'd have gone over there and beat the crap out of them with my bare hands." Naruto turned back to Shibuki who had been cowering behind him. "Are you gonna sit there curled up and crying or are you gonna show us he way into your village?"

Not wanting to look bad in front of the children, or worse in any case, Shibuki nodded and led them towards the falls, "Takigakure is protected by these cliffs. It's what keeps us safe from our enemies, the only way in is through the waterfall. Follow me."

"Hinata you stay with the woman and her kids, keep your eyes open don't want anyone sneaking up on you." Shibuki led them into the tunnel behind the water fall.

Hinata meanwhile, was standing guard over the children, with her Byakugan active, when she noticed some one trying to sneak up on her. When she saw him do the familiar hand-seals for the 'Suiton: Suiben' she smirked to herself. 'Let's see who's better at this jutsu.' She thought. The man, who was wearing a face mask like Kakashi and his hitai-ate on a bandana, snapped his water whip at her, like an actual whip. Easily side stepping it she turned to him. "You w-want to see how a _real_ ninja uses that j-jutsu?" Forming the hand-seals herself ten individual whips rose from the water behind her. "I-I might be timid, but I _am_ a kunoichi." She sent the whips after the masked man, her whips quickly lengthening far beyond what the other man was capable of. Eventually he miss timed a dodge and a whip caught him by the ankle, before he could break free three other whips caught him, one on each limb, then four more caught him, each set of whips began pulling him in opposite directions. In the end he was suspended a foot off of the ground, limbs stretched to the maximum. Hinata began to stalk towards him. "The th-thing I like about this j-jutsu, is that I can use it to h-hold an enemy still for my J-J-Juuken strikes. See, my B-Byakugan can't see tenketsu yet, so if I want to hit them I had to m-memorize where they are, and it really helps if my vic…targets, are holding still." She placed a palm on his knee, and there was a terrible crack, and the man began to scream. "Oops I m-missed. How about you tell me who you work for and what your goal is."

"You need to work on your scare tactics girl, your about as intimidating as a rabbit."

"W-W-Wrong answer." She placed her hand on his other knee, once again there was a terrible cracking sound followed by the man's anguished screams.

Meanwhile back in the cave at the sound of screams in the distance, Naruto turned to Sasuke, "Are you sure getting her that book on 'Torture and Interrogation' was a good idea Sasuke?"

"Sounds like she's getting use out of it right now, that makes it a good present."

Shibuki, sweating nervously at the thought of the quiet girl with the pale eyes torturing someone stopped at one of the pools dotting the floor he said, "This is the fastest way in follow me." He jumped into the water and swam off.

Sasuke and Naruto shared a look before shrugging and jumping in to the water after him.

**A/N I Know I Know terrible place to stop, but I want to get this chapter out today and if I write the whole mission the chapter would be at least 4000 words, probably more. So I figured you'd rather have half the mission today then all of the mission in two days.**

**Ciao **

**Xahn777**


	23. XXII: Battle for Takigakure

**A/N I miss one day and I get this review**

_**From: Anonymous**_

you know what its a good work but it would have been much pleasant only if uposted more often

**All I have to say to that is lol.**

_**Present Day: Road to Konoha:**_

"Little Hinata is team medic and T&I specialist?" Tsunade was snickering, "I like her more and more, if they're not together by the time I get to Konoha I might just have to set them up."

"She's certainly grown up, in more ways then one I might add. Give her two years and she'll have to fight men of with a stick." He gave Tsunade a lewd wink.

"Jiraiya! She's twelve!"

"Thirteen actually. And she has a rack bigger then girls twice her age."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"As I was saying," Jiraiya had apparently decided to ignore his teammate's annoyance with his observation, "While she's a lot stronger and less timid in her every day life, Naruto still can reduce her to a blubbering mess."

"So was the rest of the mission as easy as that? Or where there stronger ninja present as well?" Shizune had heard many interesting things about Taki, and wanted to know if any of them came up in Jiraiya's story.

"Oh it got a lot harder."

_**Takigakure: Four Months, Thirteen Days Ago:**_

"_This is the fastest way in follow me." He jumped into the water and swam off._

_Sasuke and Naruto shared a look before shrugging and jumping in to the water after him. _

When Naruto and Sasuke came up behind Shibuki, he motioned them to be quite, "I'm going to check on something, one of you come with me." Shibuki said before ducking back under the water.

Naruto nodded to Sasuke and ducked back under the water. As soon as Sasuke jumped out of the water, six Ame-ninjas, Sasuke recognized the hitai-ate, surrounded him. "We've got you…OH KAMI MY FACE!" Sasuke didn't wait for the ninja to finish gloating; he flew through the air foot first knocking the ninja across the field. One of the other ninja tried to backstab Sasuke with a kunai; Sasuke twisted out of the way, and wrapped his opponent's arm with ninja-wire. When the next ninja tried to attack him, he forced his victim to stab his other attacker. Ducking and weaving Sasuke used his ninja-wire to force his opponents to fight amongst themselves.

"Wow you guys suck…" Sasuke was standing in a tree, twitching and shifting his complex web of ninja-wire each movement causing someone down below immense pain, and Sasuke immense satisfaction. "I guess play time is over," he said, dropping his wires and beginning the seal for his favorite fire jutsu, "KATON: GOKAKYU!" The fire ball incinerated all six of his opponents in one go.

Jumping out of the tree Sasuke set off to find Naruto and Shibuki; unfortunately two ninja got the drop on him, the one with the teal stripe and a tall Kunoichi with shoulder length brown hair managed to bind him with water whips. "You really didn't think it would be that easy this time did you?" Teal stripe asked.

"Should we cut him now or later?"

"If you two think this is enough to hold me," Sasuke said channeling is lightning elemental chakra into the whips, "You're sadly mistaken." While his lightning nature transformation was far from complete, at this point he had enough skill at it to shock the two through their water whips. Flicking his fingers, five small weights dropped out of each sleeve. "Ready for the fight of your lives?"

Back with Naruto, and Shibuki, "Why are we hiding here? What's so important about a bottle of water anyways?"

"This isn't just any water, this is Hero Water. Taki doesn't have ninja's as strong as your Hokage. When there's a crisis, like when we where attacked during the Third Great Shinobi War, ninja from our village drink the water, and their chakra is increased tenfold, or more."

"Wow! Why don't you use it and save your village then?"

"Because drinking the Hero Water shortens the user's life by the same amount it strengthens your chakra. When the village was last attacked my father drank the Hero Water…He was not a young man. I'm afraid to die…"

"Well that was a touching story and all but Suien paid us a lot of money to get that water for him and Leader-sama hates failure." A fourth Ame ninja had apparently found them, his hitai-ate holding his spiking brown hair out of his dark purple eyes, he had an umbrella strapped to his back by a bandolier that hung from right shoulder to left hip. On his left hip there was a weird handle of some sort. "Hand the water over and I won't have to kill you."

"You'll have to get past me if you want that water." Naruto took up a Taijutsu stance, "Bring it umbrella boy."

Sighing, the Ame-nin removed the handle from his bandolier. "You have no idea what you're up against boy." The ninja placed his thumb on a seal on the handle and a yellow faintly humming blade, seemingly made of lightning, grew out of the handle. "This is the Raijin no Ken, with it I am invincible." But Naruto wasn't interested in hearing the man monologue, he charged straight in intending to end the fight as fast as possible. "Ah-ah-ah," The Ame-nin shook his finger at Naruto, swinging his sword at Naruto's neck. Naruto managed to dodge but the glowing sword still nicked his arm.

"AAARGH!" Naruto staggered backwards the electricity causing his muscles to spasm. Panting Naruto said, "If… that's how… you want it…I'LL SHOW YOU A REAL WEAPON!" Naruto's right eye began to glow, and with a thrust of his palm he blew the Ame-nin right out of the tunnel, "Shibuki if you're not going to help you stay here." Naruto leapt out of the tunnel after the sword wielding nin.

"Aoi-sensei!" the last three Ame Genin rushed to their sensei's side. But they stopped when they saw the blond leap out after him.

"Now that I have room to maneuver, let me show you a _real_ lightning attack." Left eye glowing he clapped his hands together, Summoning his weapon to him. Instead of grabbing it out of the air, he did a rapid series of hand-seals the air around him was crackling with Raiton energy, "RAITON: UZU NO TSUBASA: Hakutenshi" (Lightning Release: Wings of the Whirlpool: White Angel) Thrusting both palms outwards he grabbed his staff sword, and the energy from his jutsu was pulled in great wide lightning blots into the blade.

For a second nothing seemed to happen, "What was that brat? A real lightning weapon did you say? Next time use a jutsu you know actually how to use!" Aoi shouted as he charged the motionless Naruto. But before he got there, twelve thin white wisps of lightning erupted from Naruto's back six on each side and the Uzu no Tsubasa's blades were enveloped by pure white lightning chakra, almost doubling the blades length.

Naruto moved blindingly fast, each attack pushing Aoi back. Every one of Aoi's attacks him left open for Naruto's inevitable counter attack. "_This_ is how you use lightning in close combat Aoi-teme." Aoi, who really had no training with a sword, was slowly being overwhelmed by Naruto's speed and reach. Aoi was fast enough to prevent Naruto from landing a killer blow, making each attack Naruto landed little more than a scratch. However, Naruto landed a _lot_ of blows, each consecutive blow caused Aoi to spasm worse than the one before it. "A weapon doesn't make you strong, Aoi." Aoi had finally been slowed down enough for Naruto to land a decisive blow. "Having something to protect makes you strong." Stabbing Aoi in his right shoulder, Naruto cranked up the output of his chakra, causing the glowing chakra blades to triple in size.

"AAAAARRRGGH!" Aoi fell down clutching the smoldering stump that used to be his shoulder. "I'll kill you for this brat!"

"Good luck with that Aoi" Naruto said cheerfully waving over his shoulder as he walked off after he picked up Aoi's Raijin no Ken. Naruto headed back to the edge of the village to find out what was taking Sasuke so long.

Shibuki, meanwhile, had changed hiding places, this time his hiding place was overlooking the town square. "That, that can't be!" in the town square there was a man Shibuki recognized. He was afraid it was him, after all the man the Ame-nin said hired him was named Suien. Suien was his old teacher and once the most respected Jonin in the entire village. But here he was now with three Ame-nin and a large group of villagers tied up.

"Shibuki! If you can hear me good! Bring me the Hero Water or I'll kill every villager in Taki, one at a time!"

"What do I do? Where's Fu when you need her? Shouldn't she be protecting the village?" In His heart Shibuki knew hat he _should_ do, he should drink the water and beat the crap out of Suien. But he was afraid of dying, and the Hero Water in particular, he still had nightmares about his father ageing rapidly before he died. "Oh Kami, what do I do?" HE took one long look at the bottle in his hands and sighed while reaching for the cork.

Back with Sasuke, and the two ninjas he was against. "Hold still damnit!" Sasuke dodged another volley of shuriken and a water whip.

"Is that all you two can do?" Sasuke asked. He was rather bored and honestly these two weren't very strong, at first it had been fun to humiliate them by dancing around there attacks and making the hurt themselves. But now Sasuke just wanted to end the fight. The next time teal face attacked Sasuke wired the girl straight into his kunai.

"Murasame, why?" She croaked before falling over.

Teal face, Murasame apparently, went berserk; his attacks came in rapidly and disjointedly, tears streaming down his face. His rage was beyond words.

"Hey Duck-butt, catch!" Sasuke heard Naruto's voice. A random seeming brown handle of some sort came flying out of the tree's and almost hit Sasuke between the eyes. Looking around for a moment Sasuke saw him standing on a tree branch a good distance away. "Press the seal on the handle and channel a little chakra into it!"

Doing as he was told, Sasuke almost dropped the weapon when a glowing yellow blade sprang from one end of the handle. Sasuke was so fascinated with his new toy that he nearly missed Murasame charging at him with a kunai in each hand. Dodging the screaming man's first strike he blocked the second with the Raijin no Ken. Or at least he tried to block, the kunai was cut in half by the glowing weapon, claiming two of Murasame's fingers in the process. It seemed the loss of the last two fingers on his left hand was too much for him. He collapsed to his knees and just stared at his hand. Sasuke put him out of his misery with one simple stroke. "Cool weapon Fishcake. Let's find the ringleader so we can put this mission behind us and go home."

Things weren't going good for Shibuki, sure he had a lot more chakra thanks to the Hero Water but Suien had more experience, and he wouldn't last much longer before Suien beat him completely. 'Damn it where the hell is Fu?' He thought, as Suien tossed him into a tree like a rag doll. Suien charged him once more, this time he managed to get a hold of the arm holding the water, wrenching it at an impossible angle Suien Broke Shibuki's arm with a terrible crack.

"Mine at last!"

"Give that back!"

"Never!" Suien kicked Shibuki in the chest sending him flying across the town square.

Shibuki refused t stay down. He was scared out of his mind and sure he was going to die when the water wore off, but he was the leader of Taki, and he had a job to do. "That's enough Shibuki. I was wrong about you anyone who can keep fighting in that condition against an opponent who clearly outclasses them is not a coward." Naruto walked past Shibuki, The Uzu no Tsubasa slung over his shoulder, his mismatched eyes staring holes into Suien head. Sasuke was a step behind him, the Raijin no Ken held nonchalantly in his right hand, wearing a slightly psychotic smirk on his face.

"Your turn, my turn, or teamwork Fishcake?"

"Think you can keep up, Duck-butt?"

"Teamwork it is."

Suien had already figured out that these too were stronger then they looked. After all none of his hirelings had shown up after they went out to deal with Shibuki's allies. Deciding it was worth the risk he uncapped the Hero Water and downed almost half of it in one go. "So it comes to this already. I shall obliterate you!" He went through a series of hand-seals and formed a blade made of water, "Takigakure-Ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba" (Hidden Waterfall Style: Watercutting Sword.) Sasuke blocked Suien's attack but the man's increased chakra managed to push him backwards.

"Damn it Naruto where are you?" Sasuke cursed, for Naruto had disappeared when Suien charged. Sasuke tried to go on the offensive, a sword felt natural in his hands like more than his wires ever did, for a while he was successful, but Suien's superior skill and experience began to push Sasuke's genius back.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Naruto shouted from above from above. Shibuki seeing his opening dashed forwards and snatched the Hero water from Suien's belt. Sasuke and Shibuki barely got out of the way when Naruto, arms and blades covered in a pulsating green Chakra shroud in the shape of a dragon slammed into Suien's head blade first. The glowing green dragon's head seemed to shred Suien into a fine paste. "Fuuton: Uzu no Tsubasa: Ryokuryū." (Wind Release: Wings of the Whirlpool: Green Dragon) Naruto said before dispersing his wind cloak. "Is the water so important that you'd risk your life to safe it from destruction?"

Shibuki nodded, "It's one of our only defenses, we need it to survive."

"What's the other defense? Why didn't you use it?"

"Our strongest ninja is my cousin, Fu. She lives outside the village and is tasked with protecting it. But I'm worried that our villagers finally managed to push her away for good."

"They don't like her much?"

"They hate her. Um… would you come with me to check on her? If something's wrong I won't be much use…"

"Yeah I guess we will. We'll just add it to the bill for saving your sorry ass."

"Sasuke! Be nice, he's not as big a wuss as we thought he was. Now Shibuki, Show us where see lives."

"It's outside the village proper we can get your teammate on the way."

Sasuke and Naruto helped Shibuki get through the secret enterance and back outside the village. When they found Hinata

The were mildly surprised to see her drinking tea with the formerly injured woman and her two kids, while the ame-nin that she caught was bound securely to a tree.

"Ah, N-Naruto-kun Sasuke-san, Shibuki-san. I c-caught an enemy, b-but unfortunately he was j-just a g-g-grunt. He d-didn't know anything. I-Is it t-time to g-g-go?""

"No we have one more thing to check before we can leave, one of Shibuki's strongest ninja went missing during the attack, we're going to make sure she's alright." It was half an hour's journey on foot part way there they could hear the sounds of battle from the direction they were heading. Naruto had his clones pick up Shibuki and they sprinted for it as fast as they could.

"N-Naruto-kun, Th-there's three people up ahead! One of them is tying another up we have to hurry."

Arriving in the clearing where Fu made her house, Team seven saw two men wearing identical black cloaks with red clouds on them and large conical straw hats, one much larger then the other with a strange bundle wrapped in bandages on his back, the shorter one had a young girl with tan skin and green hair slung over his shoulder.

Seeing the new arrivals the shorter one spoke, "Isn't it our lucky day? Not only is the Nine-Tails here but so is my foolish little brother."


	24. XXIII: I Will Not Break

_**Takigakure: Four Months, Thirteen Days Ago:**_

_"Isn't it our lucky day? Not only is the Nine-Tails here but so is my foolish little brother."_

"Itachi!" Sasuke growled at his older brother, "I'll kill you." Sasuke activated the Raijin no Ken, and charged his older brother. Sasuke was so enraged he didn't notice Itachi's partner swing his large bundled object at the back of Sasuke's head.

"Sasuke!" Activating his right eye, Naruto pulled the bandaged weapon out of Itachi's partner's hand.

"What the hell was that? Careful Kisame!" Itachi shouted a warning to his partner. However he was too late, Naruto had followed up wit his eye's other power, blasting Kisame away.

Itachi looked Naruto in the eyes, "That power is dangerous, Tsukuyomi." As Naruto collapsed, Itachi easily dodged Sasuke's neck high swipe. "It's time out for you, Sasuke, Tsukuyomi." Itachi began to stalk towards Hinata and Shibuki; the only two that he thought were left standing. Therefore he was surprised when a kunai hit him in the back.

"I…WILL…NOT…BREAK!" Tears streaming down his face Sasuke had helped Naruto back to his feet. "You're a monster Itachi. I will have my vengeance. Naruto, I'm still not strong enough, I need your help."

Nodding weakly Naruto activated his fox shroud. Grabbing his staff sword Naruto charged Itachi from the left, while Sasuke charged from the right with the Raijin no Ken. 'Where's Kisame? He couldn't have been blown that far away.' Itachi thought as he dodged the flurry of blows Sasuke and Naruto threw at him. He was surprised when a water whip wrapped around his ankle and Naruto and Sasuke's blows caught him from opposite sides.

"Nice move Hinata. Did we get him?" Naruto panted.

"No," Itachi's body burst into crows, "You did not get me." Itachi was impressed with the teamwork these three showed, but it wouldn't be enough to stop him.

"Come on guys, even if we can't actually kill him, we drive him off." Naruto said as Team Seven began to circle Itachi. "Formation Seven-B guys."

"Doton: Doryū Taiga (Earth Release: Earth Flow River)/ Fuuton: Daitoppa/Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu" Hinata turned the ground under Itachi to mud at the same time as Naruto and Sasuke launched their attacks at Itachi. Once again Itachi burst into crows, avoiding the attack completely.

"You'll have to do better then that if you want to beat me."

Once again all three attacked him, once again Itachi disappeared in a burst of crows, "Is that all you have, Sasuke? You're still weak! What did you do with the time I gave you?"

"Stop toying with us you bastard!" Naruto shouted.

"Fine," Itachi's voice came from everywhere, "Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson/Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Shuriken Jutsu) A burst of flaming shuriken rained down on them most of them headed towards Hinata, Naruto leapt in front of her just before the shuriken impacted.

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata caught Naruto before he fell.

"I have no choice I hope this works," Naruto Growled, with his left eye glowing, Naruto slammed his palms on the ground Naruto summoned five toads, including Gamabunta.

'How did he do that with out using blood?' Itachi thought to himself, worried about the powers Naruto was using. 'More importantly how am I supposed to beat five boss level summons by myself?"

"Gamabunta, I need you to reverse summon Jiraiya!"

'Well, crap.' Thought Itachi, 'If he can reverse summon Jiraiya then we're seriously outmatched.'

Just then Kisame staggered out of the woods, missing his hat and his cloak, with leaves in his hair, and covered in small scratches, mumbling to himself, "Two miles! Two bloody miles!" Kisame blinked at the sight of the three giant toads and two smaller though no less dangerous looking ones, "Alright, what did I miss?"

"Kisame we need to do something abut the boss summons, if he's allowed to finish his technique I think we might be in trouble…"

"What am I supposed to do charge the giant frog and punch it to death? Use Amaterasu, that'll take care of it."

"If I do that I'll be functionally blind and out of chakra for the rest of the fight, I used Tsukuyomi _twice _already."

"Damn it Itachi! That's three times today are you trying to kill yourself?" Gamabunta was almost finished with his jutsu and Kisame didn't have enough time or water to pull off a jutsu capable of stopping Gamabunta in time. So he leapt straight at Gamabunta's head hoping to land in his eye. Unfortunately for Kisame, Gamaken hopped in front of him and deflected him back into the woods with a bash of his shield. "Noooooooot aaaaaaagaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiin…" came Kisame's cry as he sailed through the air once again.

"I stand corrected," Itachi said watching his partner sail through the air, "It's our unlucky day."

Gamabunta finished his summon and Jiraiya appeared in a poof of smoke. "What's going on here?" Jiraiya asked.

Once again Kisame came crashing through the undergrowth, this time he appeared to have landed in a thorn bush. "Alright next person to do that is dead, I don't care who it is or how long it takes but I'm going to kill them slowly and painfully. Now where the hell is Samehada." He groused, while looking around for his sword, finally tripping over it in the undergrowth.

Watching Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata prop each other up. Jiraiya said, "Good job lasting as long as you did against these two."

"Kisame grab the girl, we need to make a tactical retreat." Itachi and Kisame had used a lot of chakra trying to bring the Seven-Tails down, and then Itachi had tried to end the fight quickly with Tsukuyomi, now he was almost empty, and strong as he was Kisame was no match for Jiraiya by himself.

"Problem, Itachi, she's over there." Kisame pointed to the unconscious Fu whose injuries where being tended to by Shibuki. In between her and them were five Toads ranging from large to giant and the man who was often hailed as the strongest ninja alive. "I think we lost Itachi…The boss ain't gonna be happy."

"Kisame jump!" Itachi shouted and dived out of the way. He had seen Naruto's right eye begin to glow and he remembered what it did to Kisame last time it connected., this time however it wasn't a directed blast Naruto simple blew everything in a sixty degree arc away from him, before collapsing completely.

When the too of them finally came to a stop, Kisame was the first to speak. "I hate that kid."

"We need to inform Leader-sama of the boy's abilities. He's stronger than expected." Itachi tried to stand before collapsing in a heap, "Note to self: never fight two Jinchuriki back to back. Help me up Kisame, I did all the hard work today, you just got thrown around like a rag doll."

Picking Samehada up in one hand and slinging Itachi over his shoulder with the other Kisame staggered off towards their base in Taki. "Shut up Itachi, we all have bad days. So…Janken to decide who has to tell the boss?"

"You're on."

Back with Naruto and Team Seven Jiraiya was busy tending to Team Seven's wounds. "Why didn't you try that sooner Naruto?"

"I did, sent Kisame flying. He came back though." Naruto said tiredly, unable to really move after using so much chakra. "I used as much chakra as I could this time hopefully they're far away enough to not want to come back and fight you."

Jiraiya picked Naruto up, "Come on you two we need to get back to Konoha."

"Wait! Jiraiya-sama!" Shibuki shouted at them as they turned to leave, "Please take Fu with you, we can't protect her if those two come back for her here."

Jiraiya nodded and slung the still unconscious girl over his shoulder. As they turned to leave Sasuke reminded Shibuki, "You know you'll have to pay for at least one D-rank, One C-Rank, One A-Rank, and probably an S-Rank?"

Shibuki slumped, "Please don't remind me…"

Laughing Jiraiya reassured the leader of Takigakure, "Don't worry, Konoha as payment plans for missions the go this far south unexpectedly."

"They do? Thank Kami, I thought I might have just bankrupted Taki in one day…" Shibuki sighed in relief, "Thanks for your help but, please don't take this the wrong way, if I never see you lot again it'll be too soon."

Naruto laughed weakly from Jiraiya's arms, "I feel the same way Shibuki, but make sure you take care of yourself. That was a brave thing you did fighting a guy who outmatched you like that." They left in silence Hinata helping the exhausted Sasuke walk, Jiraiya carrying the two Jinchūriki. "Why don't we summon Gamabunta, and have him carry us back?" Naruto asked sleepily.

"Because Gamabunta will kill me if I ask?" Jiraiya scoffed.

"Put me down for a second, Ero-Sennin. Gamabunta said that he has to obey me." Seeing the worried look on Jiraiya's face Naruto continued, "Don't worry I'll ask nicely." Sighing resignedly Jiraiya lowered Naruto to his feet. Once more, with his left eye glowing, Naruto summoned Gamabunta. "Gamabunta-sama I have a terrible request to make of you."

"Kid your creeping me out what do you want?"

"Mighty Gamabunta! I humbly request that you carry us poor, tired Shinobi back to Konoha."

"You know I have to obey you anyways, why ask like that?" While mildly creeped out by Naruto's sudden politeness, Gamabunta enjoyed the flattery.

"When asking someone to do something unpleasant, especially when they have no choice, it helps to be polite. After all you're my partner, I wouldn't want to offend you."

"Who are you, and what have you done with my summoner?" Gamabunta joked, "Alright you lot, climb on all have you back to Konoha in no time at all." The five of them climbed tiredly on to Gamabunta's head, Naruto and Sasuke fell asleep almost immediately, instead of sleeping Hinata began to tend to Naruto's wounds.

"Do you want me tell him?" Jiraiya asked Hinata.

"W-w-what d-d-do you m-m-mean?"

"Naruto is a special kind of dense; I doubt he'll ever figure out how you feel on his own. If you're to shy to tell him yourself I can tell him for you."

"P-P-Please d-d-don't…I n-n-need t-to do it m-m-myself…"

"If you say so girlie. I hope you work up the courage to do it soon. Someone else might beat you too it." Jiraiya warned her.

"Th-Thank y-you Jiraiya-sama…"

"No problem girlie, just make sure you treat him right, he's my godson after all."

After she was done with Naruto she bandaged Sasuke's wounds, not that he had many, after all _he_ didn't jump in front of a volley of flaming shuriken to save her. They rode the rest of the way to Konoha in companionable silence. When they finally got there they were met by the Hokage and Kakashi, Gamabunta after all was hard to miss. And Jiraiya had disappeared quite suddenly during a meeting.

"Jiraiya what happened to my students?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya as soon as he was in earshot.

"I don't know all of it actually. Hey, Naruto! We're here wake up!" Jiraiya shook Naruto awake.

"Bwah? Was' goin' on?"

"Tell us what happened after I left, please."

"Um… a Taki missing-nin hired a bunch of Ame ninja to steal something, one of them had a weird sword, Sasuke show the Hokage please." Sasuke activated the Raijin no Ken.

"That belonged to the Nidaime! Rokushō Aoi had it stolen before he defected!"

"Aoi? Huh, maybe I should have killed him."

"What did you do to him to get him to give up the Raijin?"

"Cut his arm off…Anyways, after we defeated Suien, the missing-nin, we went to check on Taki's Jinchūriki, Fu." Naruto pointed to the still unconscious girl. "She was being kidnapped by these two guys in black cloaks with red clouds on them. One was Hoshigaki Kisame," The Hokage's eyebrows raised Kisame was a famous and deadly Ninja, "and the other was Uchiha Itachi."

"Itachi!" The Hokage interrupted, "how did you survive?"

"Luck mostly he…used a Genjutsu on us…but how Sasuke got back up after it I don't know. I had Kurama to protect me form the worst of it, but it was still really bad…I don't want to talk about it…" Naruto drifted off for a moment before shuddering and continuing telling the Hokage what happened, "He toyed with us for a bit, but I summoned a bunch of toads and had them summon Jiraiya to us and that basically scared them off."

"I…see…"

"So what was the meeting about Kakashi sensei?"

"I don't know how to say this, but someone assassinated Haruno Umeko last night. They used the same weapon she used against you."

"That's terrible! Poor Sakura I hoped her mother would get better…who did it? Do you know?"

The Hokage was silent for a moment, before speaking, "All evidence we've found so far points to one person, and one person only."

"Who? Are you going to arrest them? I hope they get what they deserve, she already got her punishment."

"The person is you, Naruto."


	25. XXIV: A Temporary Exile

**A/N I want to say that I've never actually watched the Anime's filler arcs, so this is based on what I read in the wiki, what I've seen in other people's stories and what I think should happen in mine. I honestly only read the Manga, and I originally didn't intened to use any of the filler, but I had a couple good ideas so I ended up using them.**

"_I don't know how to say this, but someone assassinated Haruno Umeko last night. They used the same weapon she used against you."_

"_That's terrible! Poor Sakura I hoped her mother would get better…who did it? Do you know?"_

_The Hokage was silent for a moment, before speaking, "All evidence we've found so far points to one person, and one person only."_

"_Who? Are you going to arrest them? I hope they get what they deserve, she already got her punishment."_

"_The person is you, Naruto."_

_**Road to Konoha: Present Day:**_

"WHAT!" Tsunade interrupted Jiraiya, "He was with Kakashi and his team the whole night! Did the Hokage actually think Naruto did it?"

"Of course not Tsunade, it was a double setup."

"Double setup? What do you mean?"

"If you'd let me speak…"

_**Outside Konoha: Four Months, Thirteen Days Ago:**_

"W-W-What do you mean?" Naruto was suddenly terrified; did the old man honestly suspect he did it?

"There are five people that claim they saw you enter and exit the building around Umeko's time of death. In addition there was a scrap of one of your jumpsuits found in a dead guard's hand and another had some of your hair, and finally the senbon launcher and a vial of acid was found in your apartment hidden under your bed."

"Th-Th-That's ridiculous…" Naruto was seriously offended, who ever set him up obvouisly thought he was an idiot…. "First of all I keep my stuff in a safe hidden behind my headboard. Second of all how bad a ninja do they think I am, _five_ people saw me? Third, I wasn't even here last night, I was three quarters of the way to Taki last night! This is obviously a set up, and a bad one at that!"

"Of course it's a set up Naruto, and it's not a bad one for the simple fact that you never 'officially' left last night."

"What do you mean old man?"

"Simple, as far as everyone but myself and Kakashi, thought you were confined to the hospital until this morning."

"Why would you do that? Did you frame me?"

"No, but I did it to lure those who would frame you out." The Hokage smiled cheerfully, "Don't worry, there's nothing they can do to you, even if Danzo forces my hand to make an arrest, all I have to do is show them the signed sealed and stamped official mission I gave you to assassinate her."

"You did what?" Naruto shouted panicking at the thought of being officially responsible for the death of Umeko.

"Don't worry Naruto it won't come to that, when it comes up in the meeting tomorrow your team has officially been away on several long term political assignments," The Hokage handed Naruto a mission scroll, "Take this and get going you haven't come back yet, only Jiraiya was on Gamabunta."

"Shouldn't you recall us if I'm under suspicion of murdering someone?"

"No, these missions are far away, relatively urgent and too high profile to recall you from without damaging Konoha's reputation. By the time you come back I'll have your name cleared don't worry." The Hokage turned to Kakashi, "Go with them I've informed you of the situation and am giving you an A-rank mission to keep an eye on Naruto to make sure he doesn't kill anyone else." The Hokage winked at Kakashi, who was internally dancing for joy, after all an A-rank where you didn't have to actually do anything was every Jonin's dream.

"All right you lot," Jiraiya told Team Seven, "I'll take care of Fu, you guys head out to your next mission and we'll see each other some time in the next month, two at the most. Get going!"

Nodding team seven began to run north towards Taki as fast as they could. "Naruto hand me the mission scroll please." Kakashi said hand outstretched. Nodding Naruto passed He sensei the sealed scroll, "Hmmm…we'll have to head east after coming to Taki's border, The Daimyo of the Land of Honey' wife went missing in the vicinity of the former Land of Neck, He suspects bandits but wants the strongest Genin team Konoha has to offer just in case."

"Isn't the land of neck two days from Taki? Why send us?" Sasuke asked.

"It's less if we take to the tress, come on team we have to hurry." Kakashi leapt into the tree branches and blurred away, Team Seven followed soon after. As they neared their destination the air became increasingly misty, until they had to stop tree hopping and begin walking on the ground again.

"Something's not tight here guys…" There was something particularly creepy about the fog they were in that worried Naruto to no end.

"Quiet Naruto, we're nearing the last known location of the Daimyo's wife, keep your eyes open." After scouring the area for five minutes Hinata finally found traces of the missing Princess and her guard, a broken litter half hidden in the bushes.

"The t-t-tracks lead this w-w-way." Hinata said, pointing deeper into the fog. "F-Follow me."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Naruto whined as they followed Hinata deeper into the mist.

"Afraid of a little fog, Fishcake?"

"It's not the fog, there's something in the fog that worries me, I can sense it." Hinata stopped short causing Naruto to knock into her. "Um…Hinata what's wrong?"

Th-There's a castle…" Hinata pointed to some faint lights in the distance. "I th-thought no one l-lived here."

"Creepy castle in the fog? Can I go back and be arrested please?"

"What's wrong with you Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he led the way towards the castle. "The bandits probably set up camp in an old castle."

"I don't like creepy things, and this reeks of a horror movie."

"C-Come on Naruto-kun, what could p-possible go w-wrong?"

"Now we're all going to die!" Naruto sobbed. Sighing dejectedly Naruto followed the rest of his team up the hill.

"Hinata activate your Byakugan, try to find out if there's actually anyone in there." Kakashi ordered.

"I c-can't see through the w-walls! The st-stone is infused w-with chakra. I've n-never seen anything like it b-before,"

"Really? You've never seen something that can block your Byakugan?" Sasuke was curious as to how powerful the Byakugan was if nothing could block it.

"N-N-not like th-this, at home w-w-we have seals that b-b-block the B-Byakugan built into our w-walls, It m-makes the w-walls look p-plain and grey, these w-walls are g-g-glowing with chakra."

"Now I know we're doomed…"

"N-Naruto-Kun! Stop c-complaining! W-W-We have a mission to c-complete."

The castle doors were wide open, there was no sign of any guards stationed around the entrance, or anywhere for that matter. "Should we go in" Sasuke asked.

"No let's just wait out here until the morning." Naruto suggested.

"We're going in right now, Naruto. We'll go in and see if there's any sign of the princess and get out as fast as possible." Kakashi said as he strode through the gate. Sasuke and Hinata followed after him immediately, Naruto took a few seconds to gather his courage before following after them.

"Let's split up so we can find the princess faster." Sasuke suggested.

"NO! We need to stick together!"

"Fine, fine, Naruto, we'll stick together, what's your problem with splitting up anyways?"

"Every time a group splits up the get picked off like flies in a place like this!"

Kakashi and Sasuke rolled their eyes at Naruto's seemingly baseless terror in the castle, but they stayed together as the searched the castle. Slowly Naruto's feelings of suspicion and paranoia, rubbed off on the others.

"I-I th-think the portraits eyes are f-f-following me." Hinata muttered nervously. They had been exploring the castle for almost two hours and hadn't found any sign of the princess on the upper floors. As they descended things seemed to get weirder, much to Naruto's ever increasing worry, the torches began to flicker, and the portraits seemed to switch place when the torches were out.

"Hey, there's a library here. Maybe it has a clue to why the castle is like this." Sasuke suggested. They fanned out through the library looking for any books tell them what happened here.\

"Th-There's a writing t-table here." Hinata pointed to a table that held an open scroll and several pots of ink. "It's a journal; the last entry is from fifty years ago." Hinata picked up the scroll and began to read. "The l-last entry is titled, The D-Death of Kubisaki C-Castle." Hinata read out loud, "The castle is surrounded. My people have been slaughtered only a few of us remain. We will die before nightfall. But I will not let them win so easily, my grudge will remain, eating all who venture into the castle. It's signed Kubisaki Kouza."

"E-E-Eat?" Naruto was as pale as a ghost, and shaking like a leaf. "We have to get out of here!" Naruto turned to run, but his way out was blocked by a row of bookshelves that wasn't there before.

"EAT." A voice echoed through the room.

"Save me!" Naruto squealed like a little girl and clung to the person closest to him, which happened to be Hinata, as a shower of books fell on them.

"There's something wrong with the floor!" Kakashi shouted. The floor had become fleshy and red. He tried to jump onto the top of the bookshelves to escape the floor's sticky grasp, but it had wrapped around his ankles and began to pull him in.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted as the floor began to suck them all in. Naruto blacked out as the fleshy substance closed over his head.

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun!" Naruto awoke to Hinata shaking him. "We found the missing people." Hinata pointed to seven people who were wrapped in the fleshy material that the walls were changing into.

"We need to get the out of there!" Naruto said as he struggled to his feet. "RASENGAN!" he slammed the swirling ball of chakra into the wall, while on the other side of the hall Kakashi tried the same thing with his Raikiri. "It's not working what do we do?"

"…_this…way…hurry…"_ a ghostly voice echoed from down the hall.

"I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place." Naruto whimpered.

"Come on team, I guess that our only clue, might as well follow it, or do you want to stay here and be eaten?" Kakashi said before sprinting down the hall after the voice. The voice led them on a seemingly merry chase though the twisting changing organic castle. Eventually they came to the highest point in the castle which contained a small shrine surrounding a large scroll.

"…_quickly…destroy…it…only…way…to…free...the…summon…"_

"Wait! This thing is a summon?" Naruto looked excited for some odd reason.

"Um..Duh?" Sasuke offered.

"Hey ghost voice thing! Take us to the entrance and I can unsummon it!"

"…_how…can…you…do...it…"_

"Trust me, Summons have to obey me apparently. If we hurry we can even save the people it ate too!"

"…_then…follow…me…"_ The voice once more led them on a seemingly random run through the ever changing castle. Finally they sped out of an opening into day light. _"…I…can…go…no…further…it's…up…to…you…now…"_

Turning around Naruto got his first real look at the summons it was an immense chameleon that was seemingly flickering between castle and lizard. It's voice echoed out, "I am Shiromari, and I have stood watch over this place for fifty years for a friend long dead. You wish to take the last wish of my friend away from him?"

**A/N Yeah this chapter was crap, I wanted Naruto to get his hands on that summoning scroll but the chapter didn't really work out as well as I wanted, sorry. Next chapter finishes up this part of the arc, and leads us into more temporary exile. **


	26. XXV: Scales

**XXV: Scales**

_**The Former Land of Neck: Four Months, Eleven Days Ago:**_

_Turning around Naruto got his first real look at the summons it was an immense chameleon that was seemingly flickering between castle and lizard. Its voice echoed out, "I am Shiromari, and I have stood watch over this place for fifty years for a friend long dead. You wish to take the last wish of my friend away from him?"_

"Sh-Sh-Shiromari-sama, your m-master's en-enemies are long d-dead." Hinata told the giant summon. "Th-They were w-wiped out thirty y-years ago, d-during the Third Great Shinobi War. N-No one even r-remembers their name."

"NO! You lie!" The giant chameleon roared, its form solidifying, revealing the ruins of a castle where it had been laying. "I will find my masters enemies for myself and destroy them! I will not let you protect them!"

"Oi Lizard!" Naruto shouted at the summon. "You're not going anywhere!"

"You think you can stop me?"

"Well duh. I have your summoning scroll. If worst comes to worst I destroy it and you'll be stuck wherever you came from until someone finds you again and makes you a new scroll." Naruto boasted to the giant lizard "Now give us back the people you ate before I make you."

"Foolish boy! I am faster then you could ever hope to be! I can destroy you before you can harm the scroll!" The Boss summon stared down at Naruto with rage in his eyes. "You cannot threaten me!"

"Actually, yes I can."

"Naruto! Stop pissing of the giant lizard!" Sasuke whispered fiercely to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you sure it's s-s-smart to anger it?"

"No worries, I got this," Naruto reassured his team.

"I will crush you!"

"Oh Yeah? Bring it you overgrown flyswatter!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. Roaring in fury, the summon shot its giant tongue at Naruto and his team. "Naruto!" his teammates shouted as they jumped out of the way. Naruto, however, just stood there holding the scroll in one hand and smirking at the summon. Just before the Chameleon's tongue hit Naruto, it changed course and smashed into the ground next to him. "See? You can't hurt me. Now be a good boy and do what I told you to."

"Let's see if your power extends to your friends boy!" The lizard turned to attack Hinata, his giant tongue once again shot out.

"I Said Stop!" Naruto shouted, causing the summon to wince with pain, delaying its strike long enough for Naruto to get in front of Hinata, once again throwing its aim off. "Everyone get behind me!"

"I… Will…Not…Yield…" The summon was in obvious pain, but it refused to stop. "I don't know what you did to me but I will find a way to stop it!"

"What's going on Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Summons are supposed to obey me, but he's a boss level summon, so I guess he has the strength to resist for a while."

"What are you talking about Fishcake? Summons don't even have to obey their summoner, why should they obey you?"

"I think it has something to do with my eyes, I found out when I got the ring in my left eye." Naruto was interrupted when Shiromari started throwing things at them in an attempt to get around its inability to hit them directly. "We've got to do something to stop him until he can't resist anymore…"

"I told you pissing it off was a bad idea!" Sasuke complained as half a tree flew past his ear.

"N-Naruto-kun I can't keep this up for much longer." Hinata was panting as she danced out of the way of a rain of rocks.

"Naruto when we're done with this me and you are going to have a long talk about discussing your plans before acting them out." Kakashi scolded Naruto.

"Um…Um…" Naruto racked his brain for ideas before finally solving their problem. "**Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!**" (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer) Naruto shouted slamming his palms on the ground. Gamabunta appeared three hundred feet above Shiromari's head. The giant chameleon didn't have time to react before the Toad Boss slammed into his back pinning him to the ground. "Hold him there Gamabunta! He won't listen to reason."

"You do realize who the kid is, don't you?" Gamabunta asked the crazed lizard.

"I don't care! They stand between me and my vengeance!" Shiromari struggled under the weight of Gamabunta, trying to through the massive toad off of his back.

"Hey kid! Sign his contract, it'll make it harder for him to resist!"

"NO! You cannot! That is a sacred artifact of my people only the worthy may sign it!" Shiromari began to thrash around wildly in a blind panic.

Meanwhile Naruto had unfurled the summoning scroll. He bit his thumb and signed his name, in the first blank spot on the scroll. Once again when he made his hand print three drops of blood fell from his left eye landing next to his hand print on the scroll. As soon as the third drop fell on the scroll, Shiromari's body began to slowly turn to smoke, apparently causing it great pain.

"Just stop and listen to us for a moment Shiromari!" Naruto called out to the summon.

"Look Lizard," Gamabunta chimed in, "stopping to listen to the kid can't hurt in the long run can it? And in the short run it'll definitely stop the pain."

As soon as Shiromari stopped struggling, his body ceased its transformation. "Speak quickly; I have little patience for games."

"Y-Your m-master has already been avenged. K-Konoha destroyed your enemies d-during the last Great War, this p-part of Konoha is even still known as the former land of N-Neck!"

"You've been trapped here for 50 years! Surely your summoner would want you to be able to go home again." Naruto tried to reason with the lizard.

The wind picked up, carrying a voice from nowhere. _"…please…my…friend…listen…to…them…"_ The wind spiraled together, coalescing into the form of Kubisaki Kouza.

"G-G-GHOST!" Naruto shouted before diving behind Hinata.

"…_you…have…earned…your…rest…please…don't…stay…for…me…"_

"Kouza…" The Chameleon boss was silent for a moment. "Fine, I will listen, what do you want me to do?" Shiromari asked Naruto.

"Give us back everything you ate and go home." Naruto ordered the chameleon. Shiromari nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind a large pile of things; stone blocks, wooden beams, books, scrolls, and piles and piles of bones.

"…_Thank…you…for…freeing…my…friend…"_ Kouza said as his ghostly form dissipated.

"I'm surprised Naruto, that actually worked." Kakashi sighed, leaning against a tree. "Now go find the princess."

Naruto made a hundred clones and ordered them to sift through the rubble. "So now what Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said as his clones dragged the unconscious bodies of the princess and her guards towards them.

"Once the princess is ready to travel we'll escort her to the Land of Honey. That will probably take two or three days at the least." Kakashi paused and thought for a moment before continuing, "You know, it's a short ride by boat to the Land of Sea from the capital of the Land of Honey… you three up for a little vacation?"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto jumped in the air enthusiastically, before ordering some of his clones to sort through the rubble to find anything useful and the rest to dig a grave for all of the bones.

"Hn." Sasuke just shrugged, not really caring one way or the other.

"W-W-Why not?" Hinata stuttered, trying not to think about Naruto seeing her in a bathing suit, or seeing him in his, before she began to examine the seven people rescued from the castle. "I-It's going to take a f-few days b-before they're ready to travel a-again. Sh-Sh-Shiromari absorbed most of their ch-ch-chakra, and a f-few of the g-guards have b-bad acid b-burns, I can treat the chakra exhaustion with some soldier p-pills, and the b-burns with my cream, b-but it will take longer than if we had an actual m-medic on the t-team. M-M-Maybe wh-when we g-get back to K-Konoha I should take a course in m-medical N-Ninjutsu."

"That's a great idea!" Naruto said encouragingly. "Having a trained med-nin on the team would be really useful…I wonder why it's not mandatory…"

"A Med-nin takes years of intensive training to be really effective." Kakashi explained, "It's only been recently that we have enough time to devote to training med-nin properly… During the wars there just wasn't enough time to train them, in the end the Hokage decided that the potential medics were or more use on the front lines."

It took three days for the princess and her guards to be ready to travel again. During that time Naruto and his clones built a crude mausoleum out of the stone left over from the castle's foundations. When he was done he began to sort through the books and scrolls left behind, in the end he made three largish piles, one containing scrolls of purely historical value, one containing various training texts for the Land of Neck's samurai along with a few Ninjutsu and Taijutsu scrolls that must have belonged to the few ninja who lived in the castle, the third, and largest, pile held miscellaneous documents, various bills, storeroom ledger's, personal journals, and works of fiction. Naruto sealed each pile into a separate scroll which he gave to Kakashi to send back to Konoha along with the mission reports.

"Naruto, Hinata thinks the princess and her guard are ready to travel." Kakashi said when Naruto handed him the scrolls. "I'll get our clients ready; you go get your teammates."

"Find anything interesting in there?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who was digging through the rubble.

"Not as much as Hinata, she found an entire room filled with money."

"Did she keep it?"

"O-Of c-course not Naruto-kun. It's n-not ours. W-We have to report it to t-the H-Hokage…" Hinata stuttered from behind Naruto, before handing each of them a scroll with a wink and walking off.

Naruto and Sasuke both unrolled their scrolls. Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he read the note inside the scroll that Hinata gave him. "Hey, Duck-Butt, I think we're a bad influence on Hinata-chan."

"Now why would you say that, Fishcake?"

"She lied to us with a straight face for one; she even got the right amount of stutter…"

"I'm more worried about her signature…"

"Hey! She stole the idea for that from me!"

"Naruto, she signed her note with a chibi picture of her giving me a wink."

"Just a wink?" Naruto asked.

"Why? Did she draw something different for you?"

Naruto turned a bright shade of red and stuffed the scroll into one of the pouches on his belt, "N-No, o-of c-course n-not! I w-would n-normally s-sign m-my n-notes w-with a d-different picture for each person that's all!" Naruto stuttered before running off. 'Why did she sign mine with her blowing a kiss?'

When Naruto and Sasuke both arrived at the camp Kakashi spoke, "Now that we're all here we can depart. It's a three day journey to the capital of the Land of Honey. We should set out immediately, Team Seven Escort formation alpha." And so they set off, the princess in the middle surrounded by her six guards, Naruto had taken point and Kakashi brought up the rear.

_**Road To Konoha: Present Day:**_

"So the kid's got two summon types already? Maybe Katsuya would want him to sign the scroll…" The group had stopped for lunch and had taken a break to discuss the story. "Did Hinata ever get that medic training? It's always nice to train someone who already has a grasp of the basics."

"Don't jump ahead; they're not back in Konoha yet. Do you honestly expect the Kid to get away with a vacation?"

"Good point, his team seems to have the worst luck when it comes to missions. So what goes wrong with this one?"

"Well…"

_**The Land of Sea: Four Months, One Day Ago:**_

The journey back to the Land of Honey was slow but uneventful, the princess and her guard were still weak and incapable of traveling as quickly as the ninja would like. In the end it took them almost five days to arrive at the capitol. The Daimyo had insisted they spend the next day and a half as his guests before arranging free transportation to the Land of the Sea.

"So this is the Land of Sea?" Naruto said as Team Seven stepped off of the ship. "It looks a little run down…reminds me of Wave a little."

"Naruto's right, something's wrong here…" Kakashi agreed. "But let's find a hotel before we start trying to solve everyone's problems, okay?"

As the group walked off the dock they were stopped by a dockhand dressed in ragged clothes. "You lot just came in by ship?" The man asked surprise clearly etched onto his face.

"No, we walked." Sasuke snarked from the back of the group.

"Was your ship attacked? Did you see anything? You're the first ship to actually make it to the docks in three weeks! We've had almost thirty shipwrecks wash up in the past three months."

Team Seven shared a pale look. "Th-th-that w-was a c-close c-call…" Hinata managed to stutter out. Naruto and Sasuke only managed to nod the revelation of how close they came to dying without even knowing it scared the crap out of them.

"I'm going to send a message to Konoha, maybe they have an idea what's going on. You three go find a hotel and check us in, while I do some preliminary scouting." Kakashi tossed a small roll of cash to Hinata. "This should be enough for two rooms; I'll meet up with you after I'm done."

"If you lot are looking for a hotel, there's one just down the street." The dockhand supplied helpfully.

"Well there goes our vacation…" Naruto grumbled as they walked away.

"N-Naruto-kun! Helping these p-people is more important then a l-little v-vacation!"

"I hate to say it but I agree with Fishcake on this one, I sure could do with a vacation after the last two missions. And I'm not the one being framed for the murder of a friend's mother."

"Thanks for reminding me Duck-butt…" Naruto said gloomily.

"Ch-Cheer up N-Naruto-kun! I'm s-sure that the h-Hokage will clear your name soon."

"Hn." Naruto grunted, before shuffling away, head low and shoulders bent.

Hinata threw Sasuke a dirty look before following after Naruto. Shrugging Sasuke followed behind them. They walked in silence until they reached the hotel. They were greeted excitedly when they entered the lobby. "Customers! Would you like a room we have several very nice rooms available. Maybe you'd like two rooms? Or three even!"

"J-just two p-please." Hinata said. "O-Our sensei will b-be here soon, show him to our room when he arrives." Hinata continued while she counted out the money.

"Could you give me his name and a description please?" the receptionist asked.

"His name's Hatake Kakashi, He's tall, has stupid gravity defying hair, wears a mask that covers the lower half of his face and his hitai-ate covers one eye." Sasuke supplied.

After being shown to their rooms and unpacking team seven sat in silence waiting for Kakashi to show up, "I wonder how long Kakashi is going to take?" Naruto was the first to break the silence. "It's been almost two hours…"

"I-I wonder h-how he's sending a m-message?"

"Probably with a summons." Naruto said disinterestedly "I don't know about dogs, but toads can be sent somewhere with a message and they'll wait until a message is ready to be sent back to the summoner."

"Spot on Naruto." Kakashi said as he walked into the room. "Sorry for the delay, but we just stumbled unto something important. Jiraiya's been investigating a rumored build up of Orochimaru's forces, and The Land of Sea is where Mitarashi Anko was found with amnesia so Orochimaru had a base near here at one point. The Hokage is sending Anko as back up, she knows Orochimaru best after all, but it will take her three or for days to get here." Kakashi sighed after giving his students their briefing. "At least you will have a few days to enjoy yourselves before Anko arrives."

Naruto stood up with a sigh before he shuffled over to his futon. "I'm going to sleep I'll see you in the morning." Naruto said before flopping onto the bed without even changing out of his traveling clothes.

"I have good news for you, at least, Naruto."

"Tell me in the morning…"

Kakashi gave Naruto a worried look before signaling his other two students into the hallway. "Alright, what's wrong with Naruto?"

"Sasuke reminded N-Naruto-kun about Sakura's mother's death."

"I was just pointing out that I needed a break! And that he could use one more than me!"

"Don't fight, please." Kakashi ran his hand through his hair with a sigh, "Sasuke think before you speak please, and Hinata he didn't mean to hurt Naruto so go easy on him. Look Naruto's right it is getting late, go to sleep now, tomorrow you three can go relax at the beach, and hopefully my news will cheer him up."

Hinata nodded to Kakashi and crossed the hall into her room. Kakashi and Sasuke went back into their room and silently got ready for bed.

The next morning at breakfast Kakashi spoke to a still moping Naruto. "Naruto I have good news about your trial."

Naruto's head perked up, "What is it?"

"The Hokage has managed to convince most of the ninja in the village that it was a bad set up, your excellent school records in the stealth exercises, and Jiraiya's and Iruka's testament that you were much stealthier than your jumpsuit makes you look, along with the fact that you actually where with me the whole time was enough for most of them. The villagers are going to be a bit harder, but the Hokage is making good progress on that front as well. By the time this mission is done it should be alright for you to return to the village."

Naruto smiled weakly, "That's good news. Well… I'm going to the beach! Who's coming with me?"

"M-M-Me."

"Hn."

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted to his room to grab his swimwear.

"OI!" Sasuke bolted after him.

"N-No f-fair Naruto-kun!"

Naruto and Sasuke managed to tie sliding onto the sand at the same exact time. "Where…where is …Hinata-chan?" Naruto panted.

"I…don't….think…She…raced…in…the…end."

Ten minutes later Hinata arrived, carrying a basket and an umbrella, wearing a towel like a cloak. "Hey Hinata-chan! What took you so long? And where'd you get the umbrella and basket?" Naruto shouted from the water.

"I b-bought the umbrella on th-the way h-here." Hinata managed to squeak as she got her first good look at Naruto and Sasuke as they came out of the water. Naruto was wearing orange shorts with blue stripes going down the sides. Sasuke was wearing plain black shorts with no ornamentation. "I m-m-made… s-sandwiches t-t-too…" It was a long time since Hinata had last seen Naruto with out his shirt on, and the change eight months of training had wrought on his physique made it hard for her to think, let alone think clean thoughts. "I-I-I'll j-just s-setup up the b-b-blanket a-and umbrella…"

"I'll help Hinata-chan!" Naruto grabbed the umbrella and began assembling it. "Hey, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked quietly.

"W-W-What N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered while laying out the blanket.

"Why do you always wear your coat? I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without it on, and you've got that towel on like a coat."

Hinata blushed a bright crimson, "N-N-No r-reason N-Naruto-kun."

"Well, if you're going to go swimming with us you'll have to take the towel off!"

Hinata hung her head, "I-I d-don't know how t-too s-swim…"

"What? Even I know how to swim! What were you going to do? And why didn't you tell us?"

"I w-was g-going to sit here and r-read…m-m-maybe b-build a sand c-castle…" Hinata poked her fingertips together nervously, "I d-didn't w-want to g-get in the w-way of your v-vacation Naruto-kun."

"What are you talking about? You have to have fun too! Tell you what, I'll teach you to swim!"

"S-Sure, Naruto-kun I'd l-love t-that." Hinata said before she could really think about it. Of course when she realized what letting Naruto teach her to swim would entail she flushed an even brighter shade of crimson. She nodded weakly took the towel off reveling a deep purple one piece swimsuit, and a surprisingly curvaceous body for someone her age. _'Please don't say anything Naruto-kun,'_ Hinata thought to herself. _'Please don't make fun of how I look.'_

The sight of Hinata in her swimsuit fused parts of his brain together in ways that he'd never really experienced._ 'No! Bad Naruto! She's your teammate and friend! Don't have thoughts like that.'_ Naruto thought to himself while a thin stream of blood began to trickle out of his nose.

"**Heh-heh, Looks like you've finally hit puberty Kit."** Kurama growled from the back of Naruto's mind. **"Sure you don't want to drop the **_**Team**_** and just Mate? Maybe become friends with benefits?" **The giant fox teased.

'_SHUT UP! It's not like that!'_

"**Kit, lie all you like but there are some things you can't hide." **The fox sniggered, sending Naruto a mental image of him pointing down.

Blushing crimson as he realized what the fox meant Naruto ran to the water, "CmonHinatathewatersgreatillr aceyouthere!" Naruto dived head first into the water.

Sasuke, who had been watching the entire thing from the water, swam over to Naruto, sniggering, "I see you have a …little…problem there Naruto. Need any help?"

"Shut up Sasuke."

"I doubt she'll notice."

"Not funny Sasuke."

"Well I think it's funny." Sasuke smirked, throwing his arm over Naruto's shoulder "Mocking people is always fun. And there's so much, or should I say so _little_ in this case, to make fun of."

"Thank you Sasuke, your poor attempts at humor, have solved my problem for me." Naruto said, straightening out a bit letting the cold water finish what Sasuke's jokes started. "Are you coming Hinata?"

Hinata, who had turned her back to Naruto almost immediately to fold up her towel, had missed the whole exchange. "C-C-Coming N-Naruto-Kun." she walked slowly into the water stopping when she was knee deep.

"C'mon Hinata-chan! The water has to be at least up to your waist!" Nodding weakly Hinata walked deeper into the ocean stopping next to Naruto. "Swimming's pretty easy! The hardest part is learning to float!" Naruto lectured causing Hinata to smile at his serious tone.

'_He would make an excellent teacher…'_

"Fortunately the human body floats all by itself! All you have to do is relax and your body will float with no real effort on your part." Naruto leaned backwards lifting his feet off the sandy floor and waved his toes at Hinata, causing her to giggle. "C'mon your turn!" Naruto said as he swam behind her, "Lean back and try to float! Don't worry I'm here to make sure you won't drown."

Hinata nodded and copied Naruto's movements from earlier. At first it was easy, but when she felt Naruto's hands on the small of her back and shoulder she tensed up and would have dropped like a rock if Naruto wasn't holding her. _'KamiNarutostouchingmewhatdoI dowhatdoisay?'_

"Relax Hinata! I'm here you wont drown!" Naruto said completely mistaking the cause of her tension, for fear of the water, instead of embarrassment.

"I-I know Naruto-kun, I'm j-just n-nervous." Hinata replied. And so it went for the next two hours Naruto tried to help Hinata learn to float, while Hinata tried to learn to get over her fear of Naruto touching her. Sasuke had already retired to the blanket and was sleeping under the umbrella.

"Um…N-Naruto-kun? I'm getting tired can we take a break?" Hinata wasn't sure how much more she could take before she did something unladylike. "I b-brought some b-buckets and shovels…m-maybe we could make a sand castle?"

"Sounds like fun Hinata! I'll build you the best sand castle ever!" once Naruto was out of the water he sprinted to the umbrella and grabbed the buckets and shovels from Hinata's bag.

"Hmm…? What's going on?" Sasuke asked sleepily.

"Oops didn't mean to wake you. We're taking a break and making a sand castle want to join us? Or are you afraid of sunlight?"

"I told you, Uchiha don't tan, you orange freak of nature! We burn, and I've already got my daily does of light."

"We're outside all day every day how come you don't burn at home?"

"Sunscreen, and there's a big difference between light in a forest and the beach, now go away I'm napping."

Hinata and Naruto spent a good half hour building a magnificent sand castle before the sound of moaning and water sloshing distracted them.

"Naruto-Kun, w-what's that s-sound?" Hinata said? Turning her head in the direction of the noise.

Marching out of the water was a veritable army of blank faced moaning fish people, their eyes glowing red, water dripping off their scales, sunlight glinting from the edges of their claws. Like one creature, they charged the beach, arms extended, moaning hungrily.

"Oh, you have GOT to be shitting me…"

**A/N: Nope, Not dead, just busy. Sorry for the delay life got a little hectic, then when that was all over Dawnguard came out unexpectedly for the PC and ate all my free time…_then_ a bunch of random crap happens in the manga (I thought my cliffhangers were bad…Damn it Kishimoto, would one panel of Tobi's face killed you?) But now I have some free time again, and it looks like the only big secret I care about (who the F #$ is Tobi?) is going to be reveled next week I feel I can write without having to change a characters identity. (Wouldn't it be messed up if it was Danzo?) I hope to get at least one chapter out a week (If I can I'll go back to every day) So stay tuned! Also I plan on fixing my first three or so chapters that are hard to read so if you had difficulty understanding who was saying what go back and check them out first one should already be up.**

**Ciao **

**Xahn777**


	27. XXVI: Green Dragon

**A/N: Thank you Kishimoto for telling us this chapter instead of cutting back to the Kage's fight. Take that guest review! You owe me 50 Ryu. (He'll probably cut to Sasuke and co. or the Kage's next week)**

**XXVI: Green Dragon**

_**Road to Konoha Present Day:**_

"Hold up! You're saying that they were attacked by _zombie_ _fishmen_? An army of them? What do you think I am five?" Tsunade was offended that Jiraiya would think she would believe such a ridiculous story, "How much of the story so far has been you making stuff up?"

"The Fishmen weren't zombies, Hime. They're the creation of a madman. And I wouldn't lie about something like this." Jiraiya answered sounding hurt.

"He's all kinds of bad luck, isn't he Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune, amused by the amount of trouble Naruto got into, commented.

Jiraiya chuckled, "I'd say he's just a magnet for the weird. It's like he's the star of his own movie or something."

"We're almost to Konoha Jiraiya; do you think you'll be able to finish the story before we get there?" Tsunade asked. Indeed the walls of Konoha now loomed over the tops of the trees; at their current pace they would reach the gates in two or three hours.

"If you'd let me finish, probably."

_**The Land of Sea: Four Months ago:**_

_"Oh, you have GOT to be shitting me…"_ Naruto just stared at the approaching horde for a moment, before coming to his sense and shouting, "Sasuke! We've got trouble! Get your lazy ass over here!"

Despite the creatures' odd shuffling walk, no doubt caused by their large webbed feet, the fish monsters moved with alarming speed. Before Naruto finished shouting the first group was in striking distance. Naruto barely had time to duck under the lead fishman's sweeping blow. "They're fast! Be careful!" Naruto countered fishman's blow with an upper cut of his own. The creature was launched a short distance away, but Naruto discovered another thing about the sea monsters, "OW! Damn it! Their scales are like steel!" Naruto ducked and dodged as the monsters clawed at him. Trying something different, Naruto flew through the hand seals for Fuuton: Daitoppa, the blast of air threw a group of fishmen through the air, but a few seconds after they landed, the fishmen got back on their feet. Naruto dodged some more attacks, while trying to some distance between him and the horde. Once he was a good distance from the monsters he made the familiar cross shaped hand-seal and formed a shadow clone, before using his clone to form a swirling blue ball of energy in the space between their hands.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he slammed the glowing ball of chakra into the stomach of one of his opponents. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then force of the blow nearly split the Fishman in half. But behind the fishman Naruto just killed were two more, moving directly towards him, "Well, crap." Naruto said as they barreled towards him.

Meanwhile, Hinata was having a much easier time against her group of opponents. Her Juuken strikes ignored the fishmen's scales, allowing her to drop them with a single strike. Sasuke, on the other hand, was having a hard time against his opponents. He lacked Naruto's physical power, and without that he couldn't actually damage any of the fish monsters with Taijutsu. His Ninjutsu was also ineffective, without his ninja-wire his lightning jutsu were useless against multiple opponents, and even if he could throw an infinite number of Katon: Gokakyu, the monsters seemed to be highly resistant to fire.

The fight seemed to stretch on for an eternity, as hundreds of monsters relentlessly, and seemingly endlessly marched out of the ocean slowly pushing Team Seven farther and farther from the beach.

After more than half an hour of fighting the unrelenting tide of monsters, they were at the end of their rope. Sasuke's hands were a bloody mess from punching the monsters, his body was covered in scratches from their claws, and his chakra nearly drained, "I…I…can't…keep…this…up" He panted.

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm almost out of Ch-Chakra." Hinata managed to say through her ragged breathing. Despite her initial success, there were simply too many of the monstrosities for her to handle, her chakra reserves were almost empty, and she was covered in so many cuts that her clothes looked more like a fishnet shirt than a one piece swim suit.

On the outside Naruto looked the worst, because of his reliance on clones to form a Rasengan, Naruto had to intercept many attacks meant for his clones, leaving him covered more wounds than Hinata and Sasuke combined. Despite the apparent severity of his wounds, and the amount of blood he lost, Naruto's advanced healing rate kept him in fighting shape. "Guys, if I can get Uzu no Tsubasa out I think I can turn this around, but they won't let me finish summoning it."

Sasuke jumped onto the shoulders of a Fishman and killed it by jamming his electrified fingers into its eyes "Can't you blast them with your eye or something, Fishcake?" he panted before jumping off the convulsing monster and landing next to Naruto.

"You two were in the way;" he said to Sasuke before shouting at Hinata who was fighting a mob of fishmen twenty feet in front of Naruto and Sasuke. "If you can get behind me I should be able to buy us the time I need to summon my sword."

Hinata managed a weak nod, and began trying to fight her way towards Naruto and Sasuke. She barely made it there before chakra exhaustion took its final toll on her, and she tipped forwards and collapsed in Naruto's arms, "Did…I…do…good?" she asked weakly, before passing out completely.

"Yeah, you did great." Naruto said to Hinata, before passing her to Sasuke. "Be careful with her, and stand behind me, these guys can handle getting launched a hundred feet into the air but you two can't." Naruto spread his arms so the approaching horde was framed between his extended palms. Naruto pictured a rolling wave of force blowing the horde away, before pouring as much chakra into his right eye as he could. The resulting blast launched the monsters through the air and gouged a trench that slowly deepened the farther it got from Naruto into the sand in front of them. When the blast reached the ocean its force sent a plume of water thirty feet into the air, and actually parted the sea.

As Naruto slammed his palms together to summon the Uzu no Tsubasa, Sasuke said with a hint of awe, "Are you sure they'll even come back after that?"

Naruto didn't respond, however, and after the Uzu no Tsubasa appeared in a puff of smoke he began a series of complex hand seals that seemed to give him a massive aura of Fuuton Chakra. "Fuuton: Uzu no Tsubasa: Ryokuryū" Naruto grabbed the floating weapon with both hands, this time his aura swirled into the weapon in several small green tornadoes.

"Um…Naruto can you hurry? They're back already." Sasuke stared at the horde that was charging them from the beach; Naruto's blast didn't even seem to slow them down.

Just before the first monster reached Naruto, his technique finished charging. Naruto's aura solidified into the shape of a serpentine dragon wrapped around his chest, arms and weapon. The head of the dragon was at one end of the Uzu no Tsubasa and its body continued down the shaft until it reached the other end before it wrapped itself around Naruto's right wrist and continued up arm before circling his chest three times. At the bottom of the third loop the tail wrapped around Naruto's left forearm twice, leaving enough slack so he could raise his elbow above his head, before trailing off of his left wrist. Ryokuryū, unlike Hakutenshi, didn't increase Naruto's speed or mobility. What it did increase was his range and the lethality of his strikes, the green dragon's body was actually made of thousands of whirling blades that shredded anything that wasn't him.

Naruto charged the approaching horde; he lashed out with the dragon's tail in his left hand and wind chakra shredded through the closest fishman's tough scales. He swung the Uzu no Tsubasa in an arc, which sent a razor sharp blast of wind chakra from the dragon's mouth, easily bisecting twenty monsters. For the first time since they arrived, the horde's forward charge was stopped. And as Naruto continued his mad charge, they began to lose ground. Ten feet, twenty feet, forty feet… soon Naruto had managed to push them all the way back to the shoreline.

Naruto stood at the very edge of the beach, immovable, like a stone wall. The rushing fishmen crashing towards him fazed him as much as the waves lapping at his toes did. So intense was his focus, he didn't notice Kakashi shunshin behind him. Obviously the fish monsters attacked elsewhere on the island, because Kakashi too was covered in cuts and bruises, his ninja uniform reduced to tatters and smeared with blood both his and the monsters.

"Sasuke, is Hinata alright?" Kakashi asked when he saw that she was unconscious.

"I think she's out of chakra, and she lost a lot of blood, I used the towel to try to stop as many of her wounds as I could, but…" Sasuke looked down, ashamed, "We didn't bring any of our gear, I don't have any blood or chakra pills."

"Accidents happen," Kakashi reassured Sasuke, while pulling a small bottle of blood pills and a vial of ointment out of a pouch in his tattered vest. "Be glad I can treat her wounds, there's nothing as painful as losing a comrade." He began to rub the ointment over Hinata's wounds after making her swallow two blood pills. When he was done he rebandaged her wounds with the shreds of towel Sasuke originally used to bandage her with.

"Sensei did they attack the other side of the island as well?"

"Yeah they put up a good fight but they had no real tactics. It really was only a matter of time, what would run out first, my energy or their numbers? It was close near the end but they stopped coming."

"THAT'S ALL YOU GOT?" Naruto shouted from the beach, after apparently killing the last fishman. "DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU LEARN TO FIGHT!" He let his jutsu dissipate, and unsummoned the Uzu no Tsubasa, before tuning around and staggering up the beach, "Is she alright?" he asked Kakashi.

"She'll be fine, probably won't even have any scars to remember the ordeal."

"Good." Naruto said, before toppling over, "I'm so tired… I think I'll sleep for a week…" Naruto began to snore.

"Ugh…I'll carry Hinata," Kakashi told Sasuke, "you get Naruto."

_**Naruto's Mindscape: Four Months Ago:**_

"**Why didn't you use my power Kit?"** Kurama asked Naruto as soon as passed out in the real world.

"No offense Kurama, but I was afraid I might hurt someone if I went four tails, it's so hard to think, and against opponents like that? I don't want to lose my self to blood lust…"

"**What about three tails? You never use my power, and it almost got you and your friends killed today."** Kurama scolded Naruto. **"Tell me the real reason you won't use my powers."**

"I'm sorry Kurama…" Naruto looked down, "I don't want people to think I'm a monster. I don't want people to look at me with disgust and fear. Even if they don't know that I have you sealed in my gut, sprouting for tails and a blood red chakra cloak will make people think I'm a monster for sure."

"**If they think you're a monster, kit, they're idiots. Never refuse to use your power because you're afraid what people will think of you. Someday, probably soon, there will be an enemy you can't defeat by yourself don't be afraid to call on my when that time comes."**

"Thank you Kurama."

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Nine ago:**_

Naruto woke up slowly. "I better not be in a hospital," he said before opening his eyes.

"No, you're just in the hotel room Naruto." Kakashi said. "Hinata's already awake, she'll be bedridden for a day or two, but she'll be fine."

"That's good news." Naruto said with a smile, but his face quickly fell, "You don't think they'll come back do you?"

"I'm sure of it Naruto, We're going to have to make preparations to defend the island until we can find the source of them." Kakashi stood up and turned to leave. "Get ready, You have the most experience building things we're going to need your help to fortify the island."

Naruto and Kakashi met with the Daimyo of the Land of Sea and his advisors to discuss building defenses for the island. After three hours of planning Naruto had enough information to create a thousand clones and order them to begin building walls and traps around the island.

After two days of constant labor the island was relatively secure, but undermanned. After a short discussion Naruto agreed to summon both the Toads and the Lizards and have them patrol the island.

"Okay here goes nothing." Naruto slammed his palms one the ground and summoned both Gamabunta and Shiromari.

"Hey, Brat." Gamabunta greeted Naruto cheerfully, "What's up?"

"What do you want mortal?" Shiromari, on the other hand still seemed to be upset with Naruto.

Naruto explained the situation the Boss summons. Gamabunta readily agreed to help. Shiromari was harder to convince but in the end he agreed to lend Naruto twenty of his best warriors, fierce lizards the size of a cart with broad flat heads and talons the size of Naruto's forearm.

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six ago:**_

"Kakashi-sensei, come quick!" Naruto shouted suddenly. "A clone just dispelled. There's a ship coming in!" Naruto and Kakashi ran for the wall where Naruto's clone dispelled. Naruto grabbed the spy-glass left by his clone and took a good look at the ship before handing the glass to his sensei.

The ship was battered, its deck covered in blood, and it smelled like death. It listed heavily to one side as it came crashing onto the beach. Once the ship ground to a halt a lone figure hopped off of the deck and began to stagger up the beach. Kakashi got a good look at the person before she collapsed. She wore a tattered tan trench coat over mesh armor, an orange miniskirt and shin guards. "That's Anko. Come on Naruto; help me get her through the traps."

Naruto and Kakashi jumped over the wall and ran in a seemingly erratic line to towards the ship wreck.

"K-Kakashi? Is that you?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah it's me Anko. What happened?"

"Monsters attacked ship…Only survivor…They'll be here soon…" Anko managed to say before she passed out.

"Come on sensei, let's get her back inside." Naruto and Kakashi managed to get her half way to the hotel they were using when Naruto's look out clones dispelled. "Kakashi…they're here."

Something about Naruto's tone worried Kakashi, "How many? Where are they coming from?"

"Thousands of them sensei. They're everywhere…."

**A/N: The Lizard warriors look like a Komodo Dragon with Crocodile scales. I wanted to finish this arc in one chapter but it kind of grew in the writing, the next chapter should bring an end to this arc and the chapter after should bring us to the Chunin exams, so hang on to your hats the big changes are on the horizon (much like Konoha)**

**Ciao**

**Xahn777**


	28. XXVII: True Sight

**XXVII: True Sight**

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six ago:**_

Things were grim in the Land of Sea. Thousands upon thousands of the fish-men sea monsters had marched out of the ocean, surrounding the main island completely. The shear number of them, along with their seemingly mindless nature, allowed them to overcome Naruto's well laid traps. No matter how many were killed by a spiked pit or exploding tags, there were more right behind them, relentlessly closing the distance from the sea to the barricades at the edge of the beach.

When Naruto's clones sounded the alarm the villagers immediately locked themselves in their homes, preferring to try to save themselves and leave the actual defense of their village to four Shinobi on vacation.

Despite enemy's overwhelming numbers, Team Seven was cautiously optimistic. They were caught off guard during the last attack, but this time they were well prepared, fully equipped and waiting for the attack. Unlike last time they each had their favorite weapons and equipment with them before the fish-men were even sighted. Sasuke had his ninja-wire and the Raijin no Ken, Naruto had the Uzu no Tsubasa already summoned and was in its Ryokuryū form before the horde cleared the shores, Hinata didn't need any weapons to fight but they all had enough Soldier Pills on them to keep fighting for a week. They also each had a radio headset to allow them to keep in contact during the battle.

They had divided the island into four quadrants, North, East, South, and West, each member of Team seven took one. Naruto had the West quadrant; Kakashi the North, Sasuke the East, and Hinata had the South. To assist them each quadrant also had five of Shiromari's strongest warriors and ten Toad soldiers armed to the teeth. When the horde finally cleared the beach they were met, not by three confused teenagers at the beach but by a group of well trained and well armed Shinobi ready for them and fifteen large summons ready to kill.

The fish-men from the west were the first to breach the defenses laid out on the beach. When the first one was in range Naruto lashed out with the dragon's tail, wrapping the whip like appendage around the monsters neck. Much to Naruto's surprise, the chakra whip didn't immediately separate the creatures head from its shoulders. Instead there was a momentary grinding noise as the wind blades that made up the tail had to chew through the monsters scales. Puzzled, Naruto struck the next closest creature with the Uzu no Tsubasa; once again there was a grinding sound before the creature's scales gave way. The delay was momentary, but it was enough to prevent Naruto from pushing the horde back to the sea. "Guys, is it just me or are they stronger than last time?" Naruto asked his teammates over the radio.

"Th-They're f-faster too, I'm having t-trouble hitting their hearts with m-my Juuken strikes." Hinata answered, as she ducked under a monsters swipe and tried to counter it with a Juuken strike to its heart, only for it to dodge at the last possible second, so instead of crushing its heart and killing it in one blow her strike collapsed one of the monsters lungs allowing it to fight a little longer before dying.

"I had to up the voltage on my Jutsu too." Sasuke grunted, he had a group of the monsters netted with ninja-wire and was trying to fry them with lightning chakra, but he had to triple his chakra out put to do it, and was already contemplating using a soldier pill.

"It's like they changed themselves to counter us, I've never seen anything like it." Kakashi said. Kakashi had started his fight with several large scale earth jutsu, since they seemed resistant to lightning and water, his two main elements. Now he was fighting with two Lightning enhanced Kunai, a trick he learned while fighting a ninja from Kumo. They were nowhere near as effective a weapon as his father's White Light Chakra Saber but they would have to do.

"These creatures taste unnatural." One of the lizard warriors, fighting alongside Naruto, growled as it spat half a fish-man out.

Much like the last battle, the fight was a war of attrition. After four hours the fish-men's relentless charged had slowed to an equally relentless crawl, not because their numbers had diminished, but because so many of them had died that the beach had turned into bloody quicksand and the horde had to climb over the bodies of their dead to even reach the defenders. Yet the horde never stopped coming.

Despite the poor footing and the amount of chakra required to maintain the Uzu no Tsubasa's Ryokuryū mode, Naruto was still going strong. Naruto had allowed the Kyuubi to add some of his Chakra to Naruto's own, which then flowed into the Uzu no Tsubasa, giving the wind shroud's cutting power the boost it needed to be able to cut through the fish-men's tough scales in one blow.

Sasuke had hit his stride at the three hour mark, he had learned so much about lightning transformation while trying to fry the fish-men that he felt he had almost mastered it. But by the five hour mark he was out of kunai and shuriken and was running low on ninja-wire, soon the only tool he'd have left would be the Raijin no Ken and while the sword felt natural in his hands he didn't know how he would fare against multiple opponents with it.

Hinata, however, was beginning to wear down, the battle had been going on for six hours at this point, and now the sun was high over head. She had already used two of her Soldier Pills and was almost out of chakra again. Honestly, she was jealous of Sasuke and Naruto's ridiculous chakra reserves, she knew she had the most chakra of any of the girls her age, and she probably had more chakra then all of the other guys her age too. But when it came to endurance she just couldn't compare to Naruto or even Sasuke.

As Hinata reached for her third Soldier pill, a purple and tan blur landed in front of her. "Need some help little girl?" Mitarashi Anko, clad in her battered mesh armor and tattered trench-coat, had arrived to assist in the battle. "Let's see how these things like my snakes! Sen'eijashu! (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)" Anko threw her hands forward and a dozen snakes shot out of her sleeves, biting the closest group of fish-men and binding them until the poison did its work. "Oooh looks like they don't like that!" Anko began to chuckle evilly.

"Umm…Anko-san…the monsters…" Hinata tried to warn Anko of the never ending horde.

"Whoa there, wait your turn! There's plenty of fun to go around!" Anko complained when a monster interrupted her evil laugh. She punished it by stabbing it in the eye with a kunai. "Never interrupt a lady!" Anko threw several dozen more snakes at the approaching horde while laughing maniacally. "It's been _years_ since I really could cut loose." She giggled while tearing a fish-man's head from its shoulders with her bare hands.

Hinata was impressed, despite Anko's apparent insanity; the woman was good, really good, at tearing her enemies apart. Shrugging, Hinata popped her third soldier pill of the day into her mouth, and re-joined the fray.

Soon enough the horde finally seemed to run out of fish-men to throw at Team Seven, and Anko. "I haven't seen a fishman in five minutes." Naruto announced over the radio. "You guys clear too?"

"I haven't seen anything for eight minutes." Kakashi stated disinterestedly, before letting out a perverse giggle.

"If Kakashi is reading his porn then it's safe." Sasuke grumbled

"Oooh, which one you reading?" Anko questioned Kakashi.

"I'm actually helping Jiraiya edit his latest book." Kakashi sounded unbelievably smug.

"Will you share? Pretty, pretty please?"

"Um…guys?" Naruto sounded alarmed. "There's some thing coming my way and I think I might need your help…" Within moments the rest of team seven and Anko had arrived.

"What the hell is that?" Moving swiftly towards them across the surface of the water was a giant transparent…thing… seemingly made out of water. Atop the …thing…stood a tall thin man with grey-blonde hair in a short pony tail and small beady eyes dressed in a lab-coat over a purple-grey collared shirt and matching slacks.

The water-blob-thing stopped a hundred feet fro mthe shore, "I can't waste anymore of my experiments on a group such as yours." The man growled. "How a group of lowly Genin could defeat my Kaima army is beyond me. Still I have gathered very valuable combat data to use when I create my next batch."

"Who the fuck are you?" Anko swore at the stranger.

"Oh, if it isn't Mitarashi Anko…I had heard Orochimaru's lap dog had left him. You don't remember me? You should, after all you threw my out of your master's base because…what was it? Oh yes… my experiments had 'crossed the line from merely unethical into inexcusably vile, and pointlessly sadistic.' Bloody hypocrite."

"Amachi?" Anko sounded puzzled for a moment. "I think I remember you, my memory from then is a little hazy." Anko sighed. "Well that was a waste of time; I came here looking for a lead on Orochimaru not some two-bit nutjob that makes Orochimaru look like an angel."

Amachi's face contorted in rage. "YOU LITTLE BITCH! Orochimaru is too afraid to make the final leap to _real_ science! He clings to the shreds of his past, refusing to let go of what little morals he has! I shall find him and show him what you can do if you're willing to go all the way!"

Naruto had heard of the things Orochimaru did before Konoha found out and exiled him. This guy thought it wasn't enough? "Are you _mad_? Orochimaru is a monster! And you think he should be _worse_?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about Brat! Umibōzu show this Brat what a _real_ scientist can achieve when he let's go of all morals!" The blob of water Amachi rode on began to change shape until it vaguely resembled the upper body of a large fat bald man. "Behold! My master piece the indestructible Umibōzu! There is no ship that can compare to him!" As Amachi was ranting Umibōzu began to shoot large powerful blasts of water out of its hands, leaving huge craters wherever the blasts landed.

"We're going to have to go out there and fight it." Kakashi said, "It's too far away for any of us to reliably hit."

Naruto nodded and signaled his teammates to follow him. After ducking and dodging the high pressure blasts from Umibōzu, Naruto was the first of his team to arrive. He swung the Uzu no Tsubasa in an overhead arc bringing both the weapon and the chakra whip down on its arm, completely severing it from Umibōzu's body. Naruto followed his first attack with a side swipe that blew half of Umibōzu's body away. "He doesn't seem so indestructible to me!"

"Naruto!" Hinata's panicked shout alerted Naruto just in time to avoid Umibōzu's fist as it shot out of its side.

"I told you, you can not destroy Umibōzu! As long as a drop of him remains in the sea he can regenerate from anything!"

"Okay, what do we do now?" Naruto asked his teammates after jumping back to avoid its attack.

"You don't have time to think!" Amachi shouted as giant pillars of water shot out of the ocean. "As long as you're even _near_ the sea Umibōzu will kill you! He truly is the perfect summon."

'Summon?' Naruto thought, 'maybe I can force it to obey me.' Naruto jumped directly in front of the massive creature with the ring in his left eye glowing, "Umibōzu stop! Don't attack us!"

Umibōzu began to thrash around wildly, its shape changing randomly. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Amachi shouted as he was thrown from Umibōzu's head. "YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL! WITHOUT ME CONTROLING HIM HE'S A MINDLESS BRUTE!"

"RAAAAAAAGH!" Umibōzu roared and charged towards Hinata, arms extended. Its body swelled in size as it charged, she tried to dodge out of its path but Umibōzu's arm grew in size as she jumped.

"Hinata!" Naruto pushed her out of the way at the last second, only for Umibōzu's massive hand to land on him instead.

"Naruto!"

Naruto struggled in its grasp while Umibōzu tried to squeeze the air out of him

Amachi stood shakily on the surface of the water, "At least that fool will die; take your time with the brat Umibōzu, soon you'll be back under my control."

Team Seven could only watch in horror as Umibōzu swallowed the barely moving Naruto whole.

"Naruto…"Hinata began sobbing. "GIVE HIM BACK!" tears streaming down her face she tried to charge Umibōzu, but Anko grabbed the collar of her jacket.

"Don't throw your life away girl!" Anko reprimanded Hinata, "He just saved it! Is his sacrifice worth that little to you?"

"HE'S NOT DEAD YET!" Hinata shouted as she struggled in Anko's grasp.

"Think! Is there anything you can do to help him? NO! Sometimes people die and there's nothing you can do!" Anko said while she pulled Hinata away from the rampaging Umibōzu, who was still randomly thrashing around and lashing out randomly.

Naruto's vision swam; the pressure inside the monsters body was terrifying, it was like being at the bottom of the ocean. Naruto tried to move but the pressure was so immense that he couldn't actually move, in fact he could feel his bones begin to break under the monstrous weight of it. He could feel the creature trying to force its way down his throat and his nose in an attempt to drown him. Naruto tried to blast his way out with his eye, but instead of blowing a hole through Umibōzu's side, the blast made Umibōzu's surface ripple like someone dropped a pebble inside of a pond and then it ricocheted back towards him, the force of it nearly tore him in half.

'Kurama! Please help me!' Naruto was answered with a powerful wave of chakra, enough to get him to four tails easily, but instead of forming the fox shaped chakra shroud that he so desperately wanted, the chakra seemed to stop at skin level. Now Naruto felt like he was going to be crushed into nothingness and blown into a million pieces all at once. 'What's happening Kurama?'

"**This…unnatural **_**thing**_** is made of pure water chakra, my chakra is fire elemental! I can't put enough chakra out to counter it without breaking the seal, and that would **_**kill**_** you!"** The Kyuubi was silent for a moment, **"I'm sorry Naruto, there's nothing I can do." **

Resigned to his fate Naruto gave up. Outside Umibōzu Hinata saw Naruto go limp, "NO! No…no…no…" The trauma was too much for her and Hinata stopped channeling her chakra to her feet. But Anko caught Hinata before she sank under the water, she didn't say anything to Hinata she just held her in as warm an embrace as she could.

'So this is dying huh?' Naruto thought to himself, 'Hey…Kurama… want me to break the seal?'

"**I'll stay…"** Kurama's normally deep voice was chocked with grief, **"I'll be back to normal in ten years…but…you're the first human who's cared about me as a person instead of a weapon since the Rikudō Sennin himself. It was an honor to know you Naruto."**

'It was an honor for me too Kurama…I…hope…you…find…happiness…some…da…" Naruto's mental voice trailed off as Naruto began to black out from lack of oxygen.

Naruto drifted in pitch darkness for what felt like an eternity, before the world lit up. 'So…is this the famous light at the end of the tunnel?' Naruto thought to himself. 'I always thought it would be bright white not dark blue.'

"**Naruto?"** Kurama's voice startled Naruto awake, **"You just drifted off in the middle of your sentence and started rambling about lights and tunnels!"**

'I'm still alive?' Naruto thought to himself (and Kurama), 'then the lights I see?' The lights swam into focus a vast web of dark blue energy, tangled around Naruto and spreading into the distance. It took Naruto a second before he realized what he was seeing, 'It's Umibōzu!' Naruto thought excitedly, even as he felt his body shut down. 'The light it's Umibōzu's chakra!'

Outside Umibōzu Hinata stopped crying. "He's alive!" Hinata shouted, her voice filled with hope, "Sasuke don't you see it?"

"Has the poor girl finally snapped?" Anko asked Kakashi.

"I don't see anything, in fact it looks like Umibōzu is crushing Naruto's head, the water's full of…blood…" Then it hit Sasuke, Hinata had activated her eyes when Anko had tried to prevent her from seeing Naruto's last moments. Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan; he could see the soft glow of Umibōzu's chakra surrounding Naruto, whose chakra had almost completely dissipated, except around Naruto's left eye where it was steadily growing brighter.

Kakashi had reached the same conclusion just moments before Sasuke, and had lifted his hitai-ate while Anko was talking to him, "I…think…she may actually be right."

Naruto stared at his hands, which had drifted in front of his face during the moments he was unconscious. 'It's beautiful, can you see it Kurama?'

"**Yes I can, Kit."** Naruto's chakra wasn't monochrome like Umibōzu's. His had four colors, Green and a dark blue, that was lighter then Umibōzu's, twisted around each other in a double helix. Surrounding those like a net was the third color, a blue so pale it was almost white. Finally separating them all was a very thin layer of brown. **"And you're right it is beautiful." **

Most interestingly, to Naruto at least, was the way Umibōzu's chakra spun and danced around Naruto's finger tips, it was almost like water spinning around a drain… On a whim, probably caused by lack of oxygen, Naruto pictured removing drain plugs from his fingertips.

"Umibōzu's Chakra…" Sasuke trailed off slack jawed without finishing his sentence.

"It's…it's draining into Naruto?" Kakashi was at least as shocked as Sasuke.

Hinata said nothing, with her Byakugan's ability to see chakra so clearly she could see the entire web surrounding Naruto swirl into him, brightening the faint spark of his own chakra back to its former glory, and beyond, soon Naruto's chakra glowed so bright it hurt her eyes, but she refused to look away.

"**Hey, Kit, this creature was made with the Sanbi's Chakra!" **Kurama growled with indignation. **"Someone's experimenting with our chakra!"**

Naruto barely heard Kurama, there was barely any oxygen left in his blood, and his lungs were slowly filling with water.

The amount of chakra Naruto absorbed had reached the point that it was visible to the naked eye. Inside Umibōzu, Naruto's aura glowed bright silver. Hinata tore herself away from the slack jawed Anko and ran towards Naruto and the now sluggishly moving Umibōzu.

Amachi had just finished the Jutsu required to bring Umibōzu back under his control, "HA HA HA! NOW UMIBŌZU DESTROY THEM!" He had, however, mistaken Umibōzu's sluggishness for docility. Umibōzu turned slowly towards Hinata and ponderously raised its arm over its head. "UMIBŌZU I SAID DESTROY THEM!" Instead of striking, Umibōzu's arm began to dissolve. Too late Amachi realized that something was seriously wrong with Umibōzu. "NO! What has that brat done to you?"

Umibōzu dissolved completely, and Naruto crashed unto the surface of the water, he barely remembered to support himself with chakra before he began to cough up the water he had inhaled.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YOU BRAT! I'LL BE BACK!" Amachi shouted as he ran off.

As Naruto stood shakily to his feet Hinata came barreling up to him tears streaming down her face, "Its okay Hinata, I'm fine." Naruto tried to reassure her. Hinata's answer surprised everyone, except Anko, first she smacked him in the face as hard as she could. Then she grabbed him in a tight hug "What was that for?" Naruto was so shocked that shy soft spoken Hinata would smack him like that, that he completely missed the fact that she was hugging him.

"You p-p-p-p-promised me Naruto! I…I thought… you…d-d-d-died!" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hey, now," Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata's shoulders, trying his best to comfort the sobbing girl, "I'm right here. I kept my word didn't I?"

Hinata hiccupped as her sobs died down, "N-Never do that to m-me again Naruto, I d- don't think I c-could survive if you actually d-d-died in front of me."

"What? Why?" Naruto was shocked that Hinata would say something like that.

"Naruto…I…I love you." Hinata leaned in and planted a tender kiss on Naruto's lips.

**A/N I was going to end the chapter with Naruto passing out while talking to Kurama but I think you lot would have probably killed me. It was soooooo tempting. Though I might end the chapter there during my planned re-write, we'll see.**

**So how do you think Naruto is going to handle the confession? Or the kiss?**

**So…I lied…_NEXT_ chapter will bring this mess to close, and take us back to Konoha. It'll probably have some Naru/Hina fluff in it too. The chapter after next (and maybe the one after that, we'll see) will be pre-Chunin exams Konoha fillerish stuff, (Not anime filler, some character stuff probably about Fu and Haku, and the rest of the Rookie Nine) before we can actually get to the exams. Also, Warning the next chapter will be pretty dark, and yes it will involve Isaribi I didn't write her out completely. If you don't hate Amachi by the time I'm done I've failed horribly.**


	29. XXVIII: Monster

**A/N Nope Still not dead, and as a happy birthday present to my favorite person in the world (Myself that is) I present you the final chapter in the Land of Sea Arc**

**XXVIII: Monster**

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:**_

_"Naruto…I…I love you." Hinata leaned in and planted a tender kiss on Naruto's lips._

Naruto froze in shock as his brain tried to process exactly what just happened. 'H-H-Hinata l-l-l-loves me? What do I say? What do I DO?'

"I hate to break up such a touching moment but Amachi is getting away." Anko's voice brought Hinata back to reality; she released Naruto and staggered backwards, while blushing a furious shade of crimson. With each step she began to sink under the surface of the water, fortunately for her Sasuke was ready for something like this and caught her before she fainted completely.

"I think she broke him." Sasuke said. Without Hinata holding onto him, Naruto had begun to slowly sink, but only on his left side, leaving him leaning at an approximately seventy-five degree angle. Apparently Naruto's water walking ability, something that had been drilled into him until he could do it while sleep walking, was on the fritz.

Anko giggled at Naruto's slacked jawed and wide eyed expression, "I haven't seen that look on someone's face since Orochimaru greeted a visitor in his bathrobe and fuzzy bunny slippers."

Kakashi glanced at Anko, "I thought you couldn't remember anything from your time with Orochimaru?"

"I can't remember most of it, but trust me, some things are impossible to forget no matter how hard you try…"

Kakashi couldn't help himself, "What kind of bathrobe?"

"Blue with fuzzy ducks."

"Ooookay," Sasuke interrupted, "How about one of you shake Naruto awake so we can get going? You know before Amachi escapes completely?"

Kakashi shook the image of Orochimaru in a bathrobe out of his head before walking over to Naruto and poking him in the forehead. Or at least he tried to poke Naruto in the forehead, the glowing silver nimbus of chakra hardened under Kakashi's finger preventing his finger from making contact. "Ow," Kakashi yanked his finger back and sucked on the end of it, "That burns, what just happened?"

"Maybe it's cuz you were trying to hit him?" Anko suggested, "Maybe you should try putting a hand on his shoulder or something."

Kakashi nodded and gently placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave him a light shake, "Oi, Naruto wake up, the bad guy's getting away… your love life can wait."

Still glass eyed Naruto managed to stutter, "Huh? Uh…I…wh-wh-what…um…wh-where is A-A-Amachi?" while blushing almost as bright a red as Hinata.

"He went that way, but he's already out of sight," Sasuke pointed towards a distant gloomy looking island.

"Eh? That's Demon Island. Kinda clichéd for the villain to have his secret base there isn't it?" Anko said while squinting at the distant island.

"How do you know the name…"

"What do you mean he's out of sight?" Naruto interrupted Kakashi's question and pointed to a spot three quarters of the way between him and the island, "He's right there! He's using so much chakra to swim though the water he's glowing like a beacon!"

"Um…Naruto I can't see him even with my Sharingan…" Kakashi said.

"The only person glowing here is you, Fishcake."

Naruto looked back at his teammates and blinked in shock, "You're all glowing!" He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look at everyone. Each person had a unique pattern and color combination. Kakashi's was the most complex, an intricate weaving of crackling blue-white, raging deep blue, and steady dark brown energies. Sasuke had a similar blue-white that sparked and flowed back and forth, at the edges it danced and leapt in shades of crimson and orange. Hinata, who was still slung over Sasuke's shoulder, had a calm blue, the color of the sea, flowing around a frame of warm dusty brown. Anko's was the simplest, an energetic swirl of yellow orange, but, Naruto noticed, tinged with a sickening shade of purple that seemed to originate from the back of her left shoulder, near her neck.

"I…Uh…Think I can see chakra now…" Naruto explained what he saw to the rest of Team Seven, and Anko.

"You can see that?" Anko rubbed the spot absentmindedly, "It was a 'gift' from Orochimaru, it hurts all the damn time, especially when I'm fighting."

"As interesting as this is, we need to head back to the docks and get a boat to catch Amachi." Sasuke said.

As they walked towards the docks, staying on the water to avoid the gore splattered beaches, Naruto sidled up to Sasuke, who was still carrying the unconscious Hinata slung over his shoulder. "Why are you carrying her like that? It looks uncomfortable."

"Because it leaves me a free hand. Why are you even asking? You never had a problem with how I carried her before."

"I…It's just…well…"

"Here, you carry her." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he thrust Hinata into Naruto's arms. "Now hurry up we have a mission to complete."

Hinata woke as Naruto climbed the pier and her face turned red as soon as she realized that Naruto was carrying her. "Hey now, don't faint again." Naruto scolded her playfully, "We'll never be able to do anything if you pass out at the slightest thing."

"I…I…I'm s-s-s-sorry Naruto-kun… I was selfish and didn't…"

"It's okay Hinata-chan."

"B-B-But…"

"It's okay; we can talk about it on the boat ride over to the island Amachi was heading towards, okay?" Naruto said as he lowered Hinata onto the pier.

"Hey love-birds!" Anko called out, "There's a rowboat we can all fit in over here, get over here."

Hinata and Naruto blushed a matching shade of red at Anko's words, as they headed towards the far end of the pier where the boat was tied. "Wow that's a big boat," Naruto said when he saw it, "Looks like it'll take ten people to row it!"

"It's called a longboat, Fishcake. Ships too big to dock use them to carry people and supplies to the pier."

"Um…how did you know that Duck-butt?"

"I wanted to be a pirate when I was little." Sasuke said. "What? Don't look at me like that, I was, like, five!"

"Wh-Wh-Whatever you s-say Sasuke…" Hinata and Naruto shared a look as soon as Sasuke turned his back and tried their hardest not to laugh at him.

At the far end of the dock Anko and Kakashi waited for the rest of Team Seven to be ready, "Anko, you never answered my question, just how do you know the name of the…" Kakashi was interrupted by the sound of clones dispelling, and Naruto violently retching.

"Wh-Wh-What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, while worriedly rubbing Naruto's back.

"Soooo…dizzy…" Naruto groaned

"What happened?" Kakashi asked a bemused Sasuke and a worried Hinata.

"I don't know Naruto made some clones, to row the boat, you know? Then he just keeled over and started puking." Sasuke said with a shrug.

"I saw myself!" Naruto mumbled.

"You're not that ugly Fishcake."

"N-N-No, you don't understand, when I made those clones, _I saw myself_, you know, _through their eyes_… Do you have any idea how dizzy that made me?"

_**Road to Konoha, Present Day:**_

"He saw through his clones eyes? Didn't that kid with the…"

"Yeah Hime, just like him."

"Does that mean…?"

"Something similar at least."

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:**_

"That's really weird Naruto, I've never heard of anything like that happening before." Kakashi said as he helped Naruto back to his feet. "Try again with just one."

Naruto nodded and formed another clone, this time instead of dispelling and causing Naruto to be ill, they both went a little green and wobbled a bit. "This is so weird…" Naruto muttered.

"Wh-What's it l-like Naruto-kun?"

"It's like…at the very edge of my vision I can see what my clone's seeing. It's really weird…it goes from my peripheral vision to the clones."

"Sounds useful to me kid." Anko said.

"I guess, but it's going to take a long time to get used to this… Well, looks like one is all I can manage right now guys, sorry but we're all going to have to row." Naruto and his Kage Bunshin hopped off of the pier and into the boat, followed by Hinata, who sat next to him, Sasuke who sat next to the Kage Bunshin, Anko, and Kakashi who each made a Kage Bunshin of their own to help them row.

It took them a few minutes to get the hang of it but soon the Longboat was skimming across the sea. For the first ten minutes Naruto and Hinata sat side-by-side in silence, before Naruto finally broke it. "So…how long have you…you know…liked me?"

"F-From the d-day I met you…"

"Wasn't that in school? What did I do to impress you that much, other then get poisoned…"

"I d-didn't think y-you'd remember…."

"What are you talking about? Did we meet before that?"

"Well…

_**Konoha: Seven Years: Six Months: Nineteen Days Ago:**_

Hinata was enjoying her time out of the clan compound; she had begged her parents to let her go to the park for hours this morning and they finally relented under the condition that she stay within eyeshot of her branch house guard at all times.

Her guard, who was supposed to watch her every move, incase of another attempted kidnapping like what happened three years ago waved to Hinata from across the park, "Hinata-sama, I will return shortly, there is something I must do, please remain here until I return." He said before heading off towards the local bar, for a quick pick-me-up.

Hinata didn't mind, she had found a flower patch that had flowers that didn't grow in the compound, and was carefully picking them so she could press and dry them when she got home.

She was so focused, that she didn't notice the four older boys, until the biggest one spoke, "Hey what are you doing in my park?"

Hinata looked up, "J-Just picking flowers."

"Ew, what's wrong with her eyes?" one of the boys asked when he saw Hinata's blank white eyes.

"That's gross! Get out of my park you freak!"

"B-B-But I have t-to w-w-wait here for…"

The large boy didn't let her finish, he kicked her in the stomach, "I said get out of here you blank eyed freak.

"I c-c-can't leave y-yet…"

"I said go away!" The leader said as he kicked Hinata again, "You're almost as bad as the demon."

"Did someone say my name?" A blond haired boy dressed in raggedy third hand clothing at least a size to large for him dropped out of the tree and landed on one of the bullies, "What have I said about bullying people here?" He turned to Hinata, allowing her to see the six whisker like marks on his face and brilliant blue eyes, "You'd better get out of here this could get messy," he said with a feral grin before jumping on the closest bully and punching him in the face.

Hinata wanted to run, but her guard told her to stay in the park, so she hid behind a tree and watched as the blond boy fought her attackers. Despite being smaller and out numbered four to one he put on an amazing fight, punching, kicking, biting and clawing at his opponents like a wild beast. Unfortunately he was out numbered and one of the bullies managed to grab the blond from behind, and another grabbed his legs to prevent him from kicking anyone in the face, allowing the other two boys to use him as a punching bag.

The largest boy, who had two black eyes and a busted lip, signaled the other boys to drop the blond. "C'mon lets get out of here before he gets back up."

As soon as they left Hinata walked up to the boy who had rescued her from her attackers. "Hinata-sama! What are you doing near that monster?" Hinata's bodyguard had returned from his 'business' in the bar across the street. "Your father will never forgive me if he finds out you've been near the Kyuu-Demo-Brat, Come Hinata-sama, we must return to the compound."

"W-What's a kyuudemobrat?"

"It's nothing, Hinata-sama, forget about it, and let's go home now okay?"

"B-But he saved m-me from b-b-bullies!"

"Of course it didn't, Hinata-sama. Don't tell such ridiculous stories." Her guard dragged Hinata off by her wrist. "It's time to go home, your father will be mad if your late again Hinata-sama."

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:**_

"That was you?" Naruto blinked in shock, "I had almost forgotten about that…How did you recognize me in school? I mean it was three years later and you only saw me for what five minutes?"

"A-After you s-saved me I t-tried to find you every time I got a chance to leave the compound…"

"You did? It's a shame you never found me then we could have been friends for a lot longer Hinata-chan. I'd have liked that, I never had many friends before I started attending the academy." When she heard Naruto's words she hung her head and tried not to cry. Naruto heard her sniffle though, "Eh? What's wrong Hinata-chan did I say something wrong?"

"I-I-I d-d-did f-f-find y-y-you…" Hinata sniffled, "I-I w-was j-just t-to f-f-frightened t-to s-speak to y-y-you…Wh-What if you thought I w-was u-u-useless and w-w-weak?"

"That's ridiculous! Who would call you weak or useless?"

"M-M-My f-f-father…"

"When we get back to Konoha I'm going to have _words_ with your father, words like; Rasengan, and Ryokuryū …." Naruto growled, while cracking his knuckles. "What did you do when you found me anyways?"

"I…um…didn't find you at first b-but…"

_**Konoha: Seven Years: Three Months: Fourteen Days Ago:**_

For the third times in as many months Hinata had managed to convince her parents to let her out of the compound. Each of her previous attempts to find her mysterious savior had ended in failure. The adults she asked refused to even tell her his name; they referred to him as 'the Demon' and insisted on telling her increasingly ridiculous stories about what he did to children who talked to him. The last adult she asked spent half an hour trying to convince her that the blond would eat her alive if he found her, after that she decided to just ask the children who played in the park. Unfortunately most of the children were even less helpful than the adults, having been fed endless stories of how evil and dangerous he was, they were all terrified of him. After pointlessly asking the children in the park for the better part of three hours Hinata was ready to give up her search when she thought she saw a flash of yellow hair at the top of a hill. She after she sprinted up the hill she was disappointed only to find a boy with brown hair in a spiky ponytail and small dark eyes and thin angular eyebrows that made him look like he was scowling, lying in the grass and staring at the sky.

"U-U-Um…Have…y-y-you seen a b-blonde b-boy w-with th-three l-lines on each ch-cheek?" Hinata asked the boy on the hill.

The boy sat up and gave her a suspicious look, "What do you want with Naruto?"

"H-H-His N-name is N-Naruto?"

"You don't even know his name?" the dark haired boy asked her suspiciously. "What are you after?"

"I w-w-want to th-thank him f-for saving m-me f-f-from b-b-b-bullies…"

"…You know… you're the first person Naruto's helped who actually wanted to thank him for saving them…"

"D-Does he h-help people often?"

"Every time he leaves the orphanage I see him help someone, most people he helps won't even give him the time of day..."

"H-H-He lives in the orphanage? Th-Thank y-you very much." Hinata took three steps before turning back to the boy, "Um…wh-where's the orphanage?"

The boy sighed and pointed to the other end of the park, "Make a left and keep going, it's impossible to miss. There's a great big sign and everything, now let me return to cloud watching please."

_**The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:**_

"So what happened next?" Naruto asked Hinata, while Sasuke, Kakashi and Anko eavesdropped on the conversation.

"I-I w-went t-to the orphanage to try and meet you…"

"What happened next? Did someone stop you from meeting me?"

"N-N-No… I was t-too n-nervous t-to t-t-t-talk to you…so I-I followed you around f-for a wh-while t-trying t-to w-work up the c-c-courage to talk to you…"

"How come I never saw you?"

"'Cause you're too thick to notice she's been stalking you for, what seven years now?" Sasuke snarked.

"SHE WHAT?"

"I-I-I'm s-s-so s-s-sorry N-Naruto-kun… I-I w-was t-too sc-sc-scared o-of what you w-would think o-of m-me… I j-just w-wanted to learn h-how y-you c-could b-be s-so brave all the t-t-time…"

"And I never noticed?" Naruto looked dumbstruck for a moment, "Wow I'm thick…I'm glad you weren't trying to kill me…"

"Not that thick Naruto I watched her stalk you for a while, she's really good."

"YOU STALKED ME TOO?"

"Not as much as Hinata!"

"WHY WERE YOU STALKING ME?"

"I wanted to know how you got so strong…"

"And you didn't try _asking_?"

"Um…would you believe that it never occurred to me?"

Anko, who had been trying her best not to laugh, finally lost it, "BWAHAHAHAHA…You three are a riot! If the ninja thing doesn't work out you could always become stand up comedians…"

"As amusing as this love triangle is, we're here." Kakashi said as the boat ground to a halt.

"L-LOVE TRIANGLE?"

"Calm down Naruto, he's joking." Sasuke said before jumping into the shallows. "Where do you guys think the entrance is?

"I dunno, let's look around." Naruto suggested.

They split up and began searching the island. After three hours they still hadn't found a single sign of inhabitation on the island, not a bent twig, a bruised leaf, or a single misplaced blade of grass.

"Are you sure this is the only place he could have gone Anko?" Kakashi asked Anko when after they gave up.

"Only island for miles in this direction, where else would he go?"

"…I think we missed the obvious." Naruto interrupted. "Everything about Amachi screamed the sea. The fishmen things he called Kaima, Umibōzu, the way he escaped… the entrance to his base must be underwater."

"That…actually makes sense…" Sasuke said, with a fake look of shock. "Who are you and what did you do with the real Fishcake?"

"Vey funny Duck-Butt…" Naruto grumbled, "Now if I was an evil bastard where would I hide the entrance to my underwater base?"

"On the far side of the island, in the cliff face." Anko answered without hesitation. "What? I _was _Orochimaru's apprentice remember?"

"Fine we'll take Anko's advice." Kakashi ordered.

Hinata found the entrance after an hour of scouring the cliff face. The narrow crack in the side of the cliff, which was barely wide enough for their boat to fit through, and low enough that they would have to duck, was screened by several large spikes of rock jutting out of the water. "I th-think I f-found the e-entrance…" Hinata announced over the radio. Within moments the rest of Team Seven had arrived.

"You guys ready?" Naruto asked.

"Y-Yes…"

"Hn."

"I was _born_ ready, kid."

"Hey, _I_ am team leader, Naruto."

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei…"

"…So, you guys ready?" Kakashi echoed Naruto's earlier question.

Team Seven rolled their eyes and ducked down into the tunnel. The tunnel was more than half full of water, which forced them to crawl on their hands and knees on the surface of the water at several points in the tunnel. The tunnel twisted and turned as they went deeper into the island, if it wasn't for Naruto's still glowing aura, it would have been pitch black. Eventually the tunnel began to slope upwards before leveling out just above water level. There was a large stone door that would have blended in the rock wall perfectly if it wasn't hanging ajar short distance after the tunnel leveled out.

"Well… we're here." Naruto said as he pushed the door all the way open, revealing a wide hallway unevenly illuminated by flickering torches. Large doorways opened to the darkness beyond at regular intervals.

"I think Amachi needs to hire an interior decorator, with some brighter lights, and some warm colors, or pastels, this could be a nice place. Not the overly cliché 'My base is a dank dungeon' thing." Sasuke said with a sniff.

"Um…Sasuke is there something you want to tell us?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"What? I wanted to be an interior designer at one point." Sasuke explained, while the rest of Team Seven tried to keep neutral expressions on their faces. "Look, I didn't want to be a ninja before Itachi killed everyone. I just wanted to be better than him at something." Sasuke shrugged, "The interior design thing wouldn't have worked out anyways… you should have seen his room."

The first six rooms were huge and completely empty, except for giant cages and blood stains. "I'm guessing this is where Amachi keeps his Kaima normally." Kakashi observed. "He could easily fit double the number we fought in these cages."

"This place is giving me the creeps, let's just hurry up and find Amachi already…" Naruto practically shoved his teammates out of the sixth room and into the seventh. "Okay… this is worse…" The seventh room was a morgue, rows and rows of stone slabs rose from the floor. On each slab lay a corpse, mostly of Kaima, but Naruto noticed the corpses of several people who seemed to have died in the process of changing into a Kaima.

"Kami…there are _children_ here…" Sasuke whispered, shock and disgust both clear in his voice.

"I think he's cloning them… Look, they all look exactly alike." Anko observed, her voice calm and clinical, completely devoid of emotion.

"Hopefully the next room will have Amachi in it…" Corpses didn't bother Kakashi; he'd killed more people than this morgue could hold in a single mission, sometimes with a single Jutsu, but the sight of children half transformed into monsters and dissected…Right now all he wanted was to tear Amachi apart with his bare hands.

Rooms number eight, nine, and ten were filled with tanks large enough to fit a fully grown man. Most of them were empty but several were filled with a strange green viscous liquid that bubbled gently.

"There are _thousands_ of these tanks…" Naruto exclaimed upon entering the tenth room, "How fast can he _make_ these things?"

"Too fast…" Sasuke growled.

"Th-There's t-two open t-tanks here…" Hinata pointed out as they left room ten. "I-I w-wonder why?"

"Nice catch Hinata-chan. Keep yours eyes open for anything fishy. Amachi has a huge head start, who knows what he has planned…"

Room eleven was a library. Giant bookcases stretched from floor to ceiling, separated by the narrowest walkways possible and crammed with occult looking books and musty scrolls.

"After we deal with Amachi we're going to have to sort through this mess and bring it back to Konoha for inspection." Kakashi told Team Seven after they had verified that Amachi was not in the room.

Room twelve wasn't a room at all; beyond the doorway was another hallway, perpendicular to the first. This hallway was unblemished save for a single doorway at the far end. It stretched from one side of the hallway to the other and from the floor almost to the ceiling and was split down the middle. Despite being plain and unblemished the door had a foreboding and dark energy as if it was the jaws to a giant monster.

"Bet you fifty ryo Amachi's on the other side of the door."

Hinata activated her Byakugan to see what was on the other side of the door, "I-I wouldn't m-make th-that bet N-Naruto-k-kun…he's not there…B-But there a-are two…um…I th-think th-they're K-Kaima." She paused for a moment, "Um…th-they're r-really b-big…"

"Just two? This'll be easy!" Naruto strode forward enthusiastically and pushed the doors open. The most interesting thing about the area beyond wasn't the room, which was circular, poorly lit, and very large, it was what was in the room, guarding the exit. The Kaima were the some of the largest things, barring Bijuu or summons, that any of them had ever seen. They were huge, each one topped out at fifteen feet, they had legs like tree trunks, arms twice the size of a man, and their faces were less human then before with no lips and crooked needle like teeth. In addition to their monstrous size most of their scales seemed to have fused together into thick plates, making it look like they wore plate mail made of chitin.

"**RRRAAAUUUUGH**" As soon as the lumbering monstrosity saw Naruto it roared and charged straight at Naruto, intent on disemboweling him with the four inch claws its large webbed hands ended in.

Naruto managed to avoid the brunt of the blow with a well timed dodge, but the tips of the monsters claws raked across his back shredding his jumpsuit and leaving three angry looking welts on Naruto's back. Fortunately the claws were slowed down by the silver nimbus that surrounded Naruto, or the wounds would have been a lot deeper. "Dammit! That was my last good jumpsuit!" Naruto winced as the welts on his back opened up and began to bleed, before his regeneration kicked in and closed the wounds leaving three pale parallel lines running diagonally across his back. "Careful guys! Those claws are coated in some kind of acid!"

"How clever of you to notice!" Amachi's voice rang out from speakers embedded in the wall. "It only took a direct hit for you to figure it out!" There was an edge to his voice, a kind of harsh gargle with at hint of madness, that wasn't present five hours earlier when they fought Umibōzu. "Welcome to my humble Abode shinobi! Normally it's a lot livelier in here but some one killed all the guests!"

While Amachi was talking the second massive Kaima charged Naruto. The rest of Team Seven and Anko ran into the room to help, but as soon as they were all inside the room the massive doors swung shut behind them trapping them in the room with the Kaima.

"It's a trap!"

"No shit Fishcake."

"Sen'eijashu!" Anko flung her arms forwards, launching dozens of snakes out of the sleeves of her battered coat. The snakes tried to bind and bite the charging Kaima, but their fangs bounced off the beast's scales and the Kaima just shrugged off their attempts to bind it. "Sen'ei Tajashu! (Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)" Twice as many giant snakes were flung forwards with as little effect as the first attack.

"Did you think I would allow you to use the same attacks twice!" Amachi gloated over the loudspeakers. "My Kaima are Invincible!" There is nothing you can do to stop them!"

Naruto managed to roll out of the way of the Kaima's overhand swipe that left inch deep gouges in the floor. "

"Doton: Doryūheki! (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) Kakashi formed a wall directly under the first Kaima, which had turned its attention to Anko, crushing it against the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Naruto, after dodging another ferocious swipe by the second Kaima, gathered as much chakra as he could safely compress and launched the second Kaima into the far wall with enough force to embed it two feet into the solid rock.

"Like I said, easy! They were faster last time earlier!" Naruto dusted himself off, "Shame about my shirt though, I hope I can find a new one when we get back to Konoha…"

"You're right Naruto, Amachi seems to have traded agility for armor."

"**RRRAAAUUUUGH**" Two voices bellowed in unison.

"Um…what was that?"

"Behold! The Power of batch Four Point Five!" Amachi cackled, as the second Kaima shook its head and pulled itself out of the hole and the first tore itself out of the ceiling. "You didn't think that was enough to stop them did you! I told you before shinobi there is _nothing_ you can do to stop them!"

"Hey guys, I have an idea…" Naruto said, "I think I can take out one of them by myself, but I need you four to take care of the other one for me or this won't work."

"You sure Fishcake?"

"Yeah."

"Good enough for me."

"M-Me too…"

"I'm not sure Naruto, last time your plan involved pissing off a giant chameleon and dodging half a mountain it threw at us…"

"Really?" Anko interrupted, "You _have_ to tell me that one when we get back."

"Hey! That worked didn't it? Trust me!" Naruto shouted before charging straight at the second Kaima.

The first Kaima tried to intercept Naruto, but Sasuke caught one of its massive legs with an electrified ninja-wire that did little more than slow it down. Hinata took the opportunity to dash in and try to disable it with Juken strikes to its other leg. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!( Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)" When the monster turned to attack Hinata, Anko attacked it from the other side, sending half a dozen balls of fire at the back of its head. The monster roared and turned back towards Anko, intent on disemboweling her but stopped when a blue white streak thudded into its chest. Kakashi had thrown a Chidori infused kunai directly at its heart in an attempt to one-shot it while it was distracted. Instead of penetrating clean through the monster the kunai was embedded up to the ring in its chest.

Kakashi's eye went wide, "Um…Normally that works."

"Unfortunatley I don't have the time to whip up a fresh batch but the prototype for my next one seems to be most effective" Amachi gloated.

Just then Naruto was sent flying backwards, the front of his shirt shredded like the back. "Don't worry! Everything's under control!"

Once again both Kaima turned their attention to the blond boy. Naruto had landed closer to the first Kaima than to his teammates, as it raised its arms to impale Naruto to the stone floor Kakashi created another stone wall, instead of coming up from the floor, Kakashi made it come out sideways from the closest wall. It slammed into the Kaima and launched it through the air.

"Thanks Kakashi sensei I owe you one!" Once again Naruto charged the second Kaima.

"Doton: Doryū Taiga!" Hinata turned the ground where the first Kaima had fallen into mud.

Sasuke followed her attack by netting the Kaima with his wires while it tried to stand.

"Sen'ei Tajashu!" Anko bound the struggling Kaima with snakes, this time thanks to the mud and Sasuke's wires the snakes were able to hold the monster down.

Once again Naruto was sent flying backwards, this time his shirt consisted of little more than a collar and sleeves that had fallen down to his wrists, "Almost got it, one more time…" he muttered before running off.

Kakashi seemed to blur forwards, his hand encased in the blue white glow of Raikiri. Kakashi's aim was pin-point perfect, his lightning encased fingers impacted directly around the kunai he had thrown moments ago. Just like the kunai his fist didn't penetrate very deep, but Kakashi managed to grab the kunai and channel his Raikiri into it and pull it out with a sideways swipe. The Raikiri enhanced slash tore off a good chunk of the Kaima's natural armor. Kakashi's fingers blurred through the seals for another Raikiri. Once more Kakashi's aim was true, once more his electrified fist slammed into the Kaima's chest, this time the blow was fatal, with one last bellow the massive beast collapsed, dead.

With their Kaima out of the way Kakashi, Sasuke, Anko and Hinata, could finally afford to pay attention to what Naruto was trying to accomplish. Somehow Naruto had managed to climb up the monstrosity's back and had the Kaima in a choke hold. "Come on…Come on…" Naruto muttered to himself, while his silver aura seemed to singe the struggling Kaima, "HA!" as soon as he shouted the beast began convulsing "Crap… Crap… Crap…" Naruto muttered as he held on for dear life.

"aaaaaaiiiiiieeeee" a faint scream seemed to echo from beyond the gates to the next area.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Amachi's voice echoed over the speakers, accompanied by the, now much louder, scream they could hear through the doors. " I DEMAND YOU STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO DAMAGE THE SOURCE!"

"To bad Amachi, we're almost done with your little toys, and we're coming for you next." Anko growled at the doors.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE ME! " Amachi shouted, "BRING IT BITCH!" The doors at the far end of the room slowly began to open, allowing the scream to be heard clearly. Disturbingly, without the muffling effect of the doors, or the crackle of the speakers the voice screaming was clearly that of a young woman. As soon as the Kaima collapsed, completely drained of chakra, the scream from the other room stopped.

"I hope who ever that was isn't too badly hurt, I only meant to kill the Kaima not her…" Naruto was worried about whoever had been screaming, whatever he did to the Kaima seemed to have caused it.

"What ever happens Naruto, remember you couldn't know that your attack would effect someone else." Kakashi said, "But accidents can happen and innocents can get caught in the cross fire…sometimes…sometimes… it's even people we love…" Kakashi's voice cracked before he cleared his throat and continued, "The world can be a cruel place, especially if you're a shinobi…"

"Enough philosophizing, I'm going to beat the crap out of that smug bastard!" Anko stomped through the door into another hallway, one that ran parallel to the first, "Well what are you lot waiting for Amachi could be escaping right now!"

"She's right let's go…" Naruto stood up and followed Anko into the hallway, followed closely by Hinata and Sasuke, Kakashi brought up the rear. Much like the last hallway this one was unbroken save for a single door at the far end. A hoarse chuckling sound and faint whimpers could be heard through the door. Naruto opened the door cautiously, ready for whatever trap Amachi had in store for them. What lay beyond was something out of a nightmare. The room itself was giant, easily the largest room they had seen so far. The entire back third of the room was dominated by complex machinery that whirred and hummed with a sinister purpose. Seven large tanks, each filled with the faintly glowing green ooze from the cloning rooms, were arranged in a half-circle. The first two were on ground level, behind them two more tanks sat above them, and behind those rose another too, the seventh tank was at ceiling height. In addition there were various smaller tanks and vats bubbling with different liquids. Tubes and wires from the machines and vats all led to single point in the center of the half circle of tanks. Supported by machinery, hung in the air over a large vat of what could only be her own blood, that dripped down wherever the machinery or tubing entered her body was a young woman, no more than eighteen. She had patched of scales cover her body, including half of her face, and one arm ended in the webbed and clawed hand of the Kaima. The unscaled parts of her body were covered in scars. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, it seemed like she probably didn't have much time left.

"She's beautiful isn't she!" Between the girl and the entrance Amachi sat in a complicated chair, ran tubes from the vats and machinery behind him, including the one seemingly full of he girl's blood, to the back of the chair where the various liquids mixed in a tank. A series of smaller tubes ran from the tank into Amachi. "BEHOLD! The source of the Kaima! And, Unfortunately for you…THEIR KING!" Amachi stood, needle tipped tubes popped out and leaked their contents on the floor. "Behold the might of Version Five!" Amachi's shoulders began to broaden rapidly, his arms doubled in length, his hands tripled in size; a long fleshy tail erupted from his back, thick spikes of bone shot out of his fingers, and smaller ones from his spine. There was a cracking sound as his knees reversed followed by the sound of his feet bursting out of his shoes, finally large dark blue-green scales seemed to erupt from under his skin, partially shredding it. Amachi charged forwards, even as the webs on his hands, feet, spine, and tail grew.

Anko dodged out of the way of his lightning fast dash, all he managed to catch was the edge of her coat. As he turned to catch her he lashed out with his tail at Kakashi who managed to barely duck under it.

Sasuke tried to restrain Amachi with his ninja-wire, and Hinata tried with her Suiton: Suiben, but Amachi pulled one the wires and sent Sasuke crashing into Hinata. Kakashi leapt at Amachi with two glowing kunai held over his head in a reverse grip, he brought them down with an overhead sweep, while Anko charged in from behind Amachi, with her hands full of fire. The kunai skittered over Amachi's scales despite the kunai's lightning enhanced edge; Amachi countered with a vicious sucker punched that made Kakashi bounce off the ceiling. Before Anko's fire jutsu could connect Amachi lashed out with his tail and sent her crashing into the wall.

Naruto, who had summoned the Uzu no Tsubasa the moment Amachi began to change, lunged forwards, his weapon held like a spear. Amachi casually leaned out of the way of the first attack, but before he could counter Sasuke bound his arm with wire again, this time when Amachi pulled his arm back the wire bit deep into his still fleshy forearms. Naruto's second thrust struck Amachi directly over his heart. With a clang, the Uzu no Tsubasa bounced off of Amachi's scales. Amachi continued to pull back on with his bound arm, peeling the tattered skin off like a torn glove revealing an arm covered in blue-green scales that shone like steel.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Hinata shot a blast of water at Amachi's back, when he leaned out of the way Naruto thrust the Uzu no Tsubasa directly at Amachi's eyes. Naruto missed by less than a millimeter, the point slid along the side of Amachi's head, instead of impaling him through the eye, the thrust cut his ear off. Amachi grabbed the shaft of the Uzu no Tsubasa as it sailed past his earhole; with his prodigious strength he swung the Uzu no Tsubasa and Naruto, like a flail, directly at Hinata. Naruto let go of and unsummoned his weapon, the force of Amachi's swing sent him flying, he managed to land feet first on the wall and stuck there with chakra. While Naruto was sailing through the air and Amachi was staggered from the Uzu no Tsubasa disappearing mid-swing, Kakashi lunged straight at Amachi. The fully charged Raikiri impacted directly over Amachi's heart. It didn't even make it all the way through the scale. Amachi back handed the panting Jonin across the room.

"HEH-HEH…HA-HA-HA!" Amachi laughed, "COWER BEFORE MY MIGHT! MY KAIMA FORM IS UNBEATABLE! THERE IS NOTHING—"

"FUUTON: DAITOPPA! SIT DOWN!" Naruto blasted Amachi across the room.

"Doton: Doryū Taiga!" Hinata poured as much chakra as she could into the jutsu, turning the area Amachi landed in into a waist deep pit of mud. "A-And shut up!"

"**KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU/KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU/KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" **The three fireballs, launched by Anko, Kakashi, and Sasuke met halfway to Amachi, who was struggling to stand in the mud.

"FUUTON: DAITOPPA!" Naruto's windblast caused the fireball to swell to triple its previous size. Since they were indoors, and Anko didn't know them anyway, they didn't use the hand-seals that would allow them to fuse the jutsu into Taiyō Sakusei.

Naruto watched as Kakashi dashed through the smoke cloud from the explosion, his hand glowing with the light of his fifth Raikiri of the day. He ran over the surface of the mud pit, which had been baked solid by the heat of the blast, straight at Amachi, who was slowly pulling himself out of the floor. Kakashi slammed his Raikiri into the same spot he had before, instead of bouncing of Amachi's scales, this time there was a faint cracking sound, and thin lines spider-webbed out from the point of impact. Kakashi didn't stop his dash; he flipped over the mildly stunned Amachi and slid to a stop thirty feet behind him before collapsing on one knee. "I…I'm…out…" He panted.

Amachi finished pulling himself out of the floor, "I TOLD YOU I AM UNBEATABLE! I AM IMMUNE T O ALL YOUR PETTY TRICKS!"

"I still have some 'tricks' up my sleeve!" Naruto growled before he hopped off of the wall he had been standing on.

"A-Are you s-sure it's c-combat ready?"

"One way to find out…" Naruto clapped his hands together and shut his eyes for a moment, when he opened his eyes thin streams of dark purple chakra began to leak from his body. "Damnit… still losing some Yin chakra during the exchange…"

"AN INCOMPLETE TECHNIQUE WILL NEVER STOP ME!"

"Yeah, yeah…CHAKRA CHAINS!" Naruto slammed his hands on the floor, nine transparent silver chains the width of his thumb shot out of his lower back and into the floor. Naruto staggered, suddenly short of breath, "Whoo boy…"

"WHAT IS THIS! YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME WITH—" Amachi was cut off when all nine chains emerged from the ground, they slammed into him from all sides before wrapping them selves around Amachi and retracting back into the ground, leaving Amachi pinned in a half crouch.

"**Kit, your wasting the chakra you got from ****Umibōzu, Pull it in!"**

Naruto nodded, grit his teeth together and pulled. The bright silver aura, that had surrounded him since he defeated Umibozō, vanished and Naruto, no longer panting, stood up straight ready to fight.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR RRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H!"** Kurama howled in agony.

'Kurama what's wrong?'

"**Nothing Kit, go kick his ass form me."** Kurama growled through clenched jaws.

Naruto rushed towards Amachi, and slammed his hand into the scale Kakashi cracked. "Uzumaki Ryu: Sen Shadanki! (Uzumaki Style: War-breaker)" A spiral seal appeared spreading out from where Naruto struck; it rapidly covered Amachi's entire body. Naruto quickly jumped away from Amachi, "Kai. (Release)"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK—" Amachi was interrupted by a high pitched whine followed closely by a series of small explosions that originated from his left hand, at the edge of the seal, and spiral inwards. "IS THAT ALL YOUR SEAL CAN DO!" Amachi roared, "EVEN A KUNAI WOULD HURT MORE!" as the sound increased in pitch the seal moved inwards on itself, until it was barely more than a solid black circle over Amachi's heart.

Naruto released his chakra chains, unable to maintain them any longer. Amachi leapt at Naruto the moment he was free. A split second before Amachi pounced on him, Naruto formed a half tiger seal and whispered, "Kai."

The secondary explosion sent Amachi flying backwards into a wall. Amachi rose shakily to his feet, too disorientated to notice that his scales where now cracked or that there was a whole in scale over his heart the size of Naruto's fist.

Naruto had enough chakra left for one big attack, and if he couldn't end the fight with it Anko, Sasuke, and Hinata would be left having to both fight Amachi and protect him and Kakashi.

There was only one attack that he knew of that would enable him to win in one hit…He knew how to do it in theory… It wasn't hard really; just three hand seals…Ox-Rabbit-Monkey… and he _had_ seen Kakashi-sensei use it several times today…

He knew the drawbacks and the risks well enough to make sure his aim was perfect.

Naruto shot forwards in a straight line, his fist covered in flickering lightning chakra, everything blurred to the point where he could no longer see.

His fist connected with the bare patch over Amachi's heart.

It certainly wasn't Raikiri… It wasn't even Chidori…but the faltering ball of lightning that coated Naruto's fist seemed to do the trick.

Naruto's arm sank elbow deep in Amachi's chest, but it wasn't enough. Growling Amachi grabbed Naruto's neck and began to squeeze. Naruto panicked and reached for Kurama's chakra, but he couldn't find it, not at first. Kurama realized something was wrong and began to forcibly push his chakra into Naruto. At first Naruto didn't realize where this new chakra was coming from, it felt different than Kurama's usually did and seemed to be coming from a different location, closer to his own chakra center than to the seal. But when Naruto realized it was Kurama's Chakra he poured it into his faltering attack. The results were spectacular; there was a thunder clap as a red tinged lightning bolt blasted out of Amachi's back that punched a hole clean through the stone ceiling, letting a silver beam of moonlight shine down into the room.

Amachi collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Naruto would have collapsed too but Hinata caught him before he hit the floor.

"Naruto, what was that?" Kakashi, half supported by Anko, limped over to Naruto's side.

"That was an Uzumaki clan seal. First it uses sonic vibrations and small explosions to weaken its target before it explodes properly. It's meant to be used on walls during sieges or to create giant pit traps under armies. I used it to crack Amachi's armor."

"No Naruto, I want to know what you were thinking trying to use Chidori in battle!"

"That wasn't-"

"Naruto, I _invented_ that Jutsu! I know what it looks like when someone tries to imitate it!"

"I needed a piercing attack and the whole wasn't big—"

"Naruto that was an S-rank jutsu you just tried, an S-rank that you were never trained to use!" Kakashi shouted, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"I needed to…"

"You could have died!"

"I'm sorry Kakashi…"

"Never do that again, Naruto."

"Yes sensei…"

"Now help me get the girl down."

As Team Seven limped over to the giant machine's control panels Naruto reached for the Kyuubi's chakra again. It still felt strange but this time it was back were it belonged. 'Hey, Kurama what happened back there, I couldn't find your chakra.'

"**When you pulled Umibōzu's Chakra it knocked mine out of alignment, don't worry about it, ****it fixed itself****." **Kurama sounded like he was in pain still.

'What's wrong?'

"**Fire and water don't mix, Kit."** Naruto could tell from Kurama's tone of voice that that was the last he would speak about it.

"Quit slacking Fishcake and help me find the control panel!" Sasuke's voice brought Naruto back to reality.

"Hold your horses Duck-Butt! I'll be right there."

In the end it only took them five minutes to find the control panel and get the girl down. Amachi had apparently liked to keep his controls easy to understand, each button was clearly labeled, including the red lever under the glass lid marked release. Once they pulled it there was a series of hissing gurgling and sucking noises as the various tubes, wires and bits of machinery that seemed to hold her up were retracted, the cross that had kept her suspended in midair was now clearly visible. At first it seemed like that was the extent of the 'release' procedure they had activated.

"So…Now what?" Sasuke asked, while he and Naruto poured over the controls trying to find some clue to help them get the girl down.

After about two minutes, however, the machine began to hum again, and the cross was lowered, surprisingly gently to the halfway mark before it swung outwards and away from the machinery. Once it was completely clear it lowered the girl down the rest of the way. Once the bottom touched the floor it tilted back at a forty-five degree angle.

"It's okay your safe now." Naruto tried to calm the girl while he undid the straps that held her down. Despite Naruto's best attempts to calm her she began to struggle wildly in her bindings, hissing and spitting like a terrified cat , and as soon as Naruto got one of her hands free she balled up her fist and smashed him right in the eye. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Naruto shouted from the floor, "I'm trying to help!"

"I think I know what's wrong," Anko's voice was tinged with bitterness and sorrow, "Naruto, Sasuke go look for clues or something in the room. Hinata, help me with her okay?" Anko said while gently lowering Kakashi to the floor.

"But I want to help!"

"You can help by staying away from her until we've calmed her down. Now go."

Sasuke decided to study the machinery for further clues as to what it actually did while Naruto searched the rest of the room. Directly across from where the machine lowered the purple haired girl was a seemingly small alcove that marred the otherwise uniformly flat walls of the room. When Naruto stepped into it her realized that it was much bigger than it had first seemed, instead of the tiny three foot by three foot dent in the wall it was actually an 'L' shaped room that appeared to be Amachi's living quarters. A battered wooden desk was in one corner of the room, there were a few piles of matching grey suits and lab coats in a smelly heap in another corner, two old bookcases on opposite walls, but what really dominated the room was the massive stone bed on the far wall. A pair of manacles hung from the headboard. The white silk sheets were stained with blood. And lying open on the nightstand to one side of the bed was a large battered notebook. Naruto picked it up and opened it to the first page.

_Subject One: Female, Middle age, Five foot two, One Hundred Pounds._

_Catastrophic failure. Chest cavity ruptured during transformation. Recommendation: New Serum._

_Log Entry One:_

_Fai;lure to be expected at early stages, Must find new test subjects._

_Subject Two: Male, Teenager, Five Foot Five, One Hundred ten Pounds_

_Catastrophic failure. Complete organ shut down. Recommendation: New Serum._

_Subject Three: Female Preteen, Four Foot Six, Fifty pounds_

_Catastrophic failure. Massive hemorrhaging from pores during transformation. Recommendation: New Serum._

_Log Entry Two:_

_Note to self, Must test patients for allergic reactions to serum._

The list when on and on, every entry was marked 'catastrophic failure' and had a short description about the subject and what went wrong, occasionally interspersed with log entries until, until entry number Nine Hundred Seventy Eight

_Subject Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight: Female, Teenager, Five foot Four, Ninety Pounds_

_Partial Success. Transformation partially complete. Recommendation: Clone. _

_Subject Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight: Clone One._

_Failure. Clone aged far too rapidly and died within an hour of being made. Recommendation: Retry._

The list of clones named several hundred attempts, each marked as a failure. Some clones aged to fast others resisted all attempts at rapid ageing.

_Log Entry Seven Hundred and Two_

_Subject posses a strange resistance to my methods, her body seems to be adapting to what ever experiments I perform. Subjects Nine Hundred And Seventy Nine, Through One Thousand proved useless, Must find subjects secret._

After that entry there were pages and pages of data and tests that made Naruto's head spin.

_Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Seven:_

_At Last! Subject develops a resistance to damage on the genetic level, Explains seventy broken needles and fifty dulled scalpels during last period of tests. Note: order sharper knives. Now I need to isolate the gene causing this and disable it some how._

After that entry there was pages and pages of notes again before the next log entry.

_Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Eight:_

_Alas, I cannot shut the girl's resistance gene down It is, however ,both passive and female specific, needing to be on both 'X' Genes to take effect. Subject useless._

Judging by the ink dots next to the entry Amachi had stopped writing for several moments to think while tapping his pen on the edge of the book.

_However… I believe a descendent of Subject __Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight that was not a carrier of resistance gene would make an excellent base for my Kaima._

_Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Nine:_

_The Deed is done. Despite holding myself above such worldly pleasure the last ten years, I found myself strangely enjoying the experience. Now all that's left is waiting…_

"I'm going to piss on his fucking corpse!" Naruto growled.

"What's the matter Naruto?" Naruto was so absorbed in the book he hadn't even Notice Anko enter the room.

"Read this." Naruto thrust the book at Anko.

After taking a quick glance Anko sighed, "I feared as much, considering the way she was acting when you tried to free her." Anko shook her head sadly, "I know how you feel but you can't piss on Amachi Naruto. It might contain some clues on how to help the poor girl." Anko pulled a large storage scroll, from the darkness of her jacket. "Come with me and help me seal his body to bring back with us."

But when they returned to the main room Amachi's body was nowhere to be found. Instead a streak of blood ran from the pool where Amachi had collapsed to a hidden trapdoor, Amachi had survived, and escaped.

**A/N: Um… Wow… sorry guys…**

**I could write a book on why it took me so long to finish this chapter but to give you the short version, no internet for all of September and some of October, a new job in November that worked me to the bone until mid January. And the bane of every writer everywhere, writers block big enough to carve mount rush more onto. But I'm Happy to announce that I've solved that writers block by taking the stories that were banging around in my head preventing me from getting this one out, by starting work on two new stories, tentatively titled "Naruto: Master of Magnetism" and a three part series "Mass Effect: Shadow of Death", "Mass Effect: Fear No Evil", And "Shepherd" The first Chapter of Master Of Magnetism is almost done, while the mass effect series is still in the planning stages, Once Again I Apologize for the (Massive) delay and promise to do my best to Insure that You don't have to wait this long ever again.**

**Anyways I know that doesn't really seem to finish this arc, but it's done. I felt this was the best palce to end this chapter, next chapter picks up where this one left off and will see Team Seven Back In Konoha at long last.**

**Ciao **

**Xahn777**


	30. XXIX: End of Exile

**A/N: GOD DAMN IT, KISHIMOTO STOP STEALING MY IDEAS BEFORE I CAN USE THEM! He's stolen TWO of my ideas recently.**

**Chapter XXIX: End of Exile**

_**Road To Konoha: Present Day,**_

"Jiraiya, why did you stop? We're almost there!" Jiraiya had led them to a small clearing, well hidden by the forest's thick undergrowth, a ten minute walk from the roads edge.

"I'm waiting for my contact Hime." Jiraiya pushed a large boulder over, revealing a well built fire pit underneath and a cache of supplies in a hollowed out section of the boulder.

"I thought you needed me to heal Sensei and Naruto right away?"

"I just gave Danzo free reign of the city for four days while I was gone," Jiraiya unsealed a stockpile of dry firewood from one of the scrolls and began carefully building a small fire. "I'm not going to blindly walk into one of his traps."

"What are you going to do after you meet with your contact Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune asked Jiraiya.

"I'm going to take his trap and turn it against him of course." Jiraiya answered smugly.

"So what happened next?" Tsunade wanted to hear the whole story before they ran out of time.

"Well they spent the next day and a half digging through Amachi's base, and after they had taken sample of all of the chemicals in his machinery and sealed all of his books they collapsed the whole place." Jiraiya took some food out of his pack and began roasting it over the smokeless fire.

"After that they booked a ship back towards Konoha, left the corpses on the beach for the villagers to clean up though," Jiraiya grinned, while leaving the corpses was certainly petty, small acts of vengeance against the stupid or cowardly always made him feel better. "Sensei sent them a message saying it was safe enough to come back when they were half way there."

"And the girl?" Shizune was worried about the girl, that kind of trauma can permanently break someone's mind.

"They took her with them, she was catatonic the entire way; she's currently in the psychiatric wing of the Konoha General Hospital. She's doing much better."

"What is her name?"

"Isaribi." Jiraiya handed Shizune and Tsunade strips of meat before he continued telling them the story.

_**Konoha: Three Months, Seven Days ago:**_

Naruto smiled to himself, after more than a month away, the sight of Konoha's giant walls made him incredibly happy. Anko had gone ahead of them almost a week ago, she wanted to make sure the purple haired girl got medical attention as fast as possible and Team Seven didn't know when it would be allowed back. Kakashi and Sasuke walked side by side, just out of ear-shot of Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata had enjoyed there time away from the village, especially the last two weeks. Things were a little awkward now that Naruto knew she had been stalking him for years, but it helped him realize just how little self-confidence she had left after years of being called a failure.

Naruto had taken it upon himself to change that. The first thing Naruto did when they got back to the Land of Honey was to take Hinata out on a small date. It wasn't much, just dinner (ramen of course), but Hinata had never been happier.

Afterwards Hinata took Naruto shopping. Not that she wanted to, but people kept staring at Naruto, who had decided to just go shirtless until he could replace his beloved orange jumpsuit. She hadn't been able to find the same jumpsuit, but the black and orange one she picked out was even better, judging by how excited he was when she showed it to him. While still shirtless he had picked her up and spun her around while chanting "thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Hinata didn't know how long he had gone on for; she had passed out on the fourth revolution.

Hinata slowed down as they got closer to the gates. She wasn't looking forward to returning, like Naruto was. While she was gone she didn't have to worry about what her father or the other elders of her clan would say. She could be herself without being called weak, worthless, or a failure.

Naruto noticed her slowing down, "What's wrong?" he reached over and took her hand in his.

"I d-don't really w-want to go back home…" Hinata said softly.

Naruto gave her hand a friendly squeeze; which caused Hinata to blush tomato red, "Whenever you need me I'll be there. Besides, I don't think they can complain now that you've done two, _two,_ S-Rank missions."

Hinata shook her head, "You d-don't know the elders of my c-clan, Naruto-kun. They'll refuse to b-believe I was any help, or they'll s-say that it w-wasn't really an S-rank."

"Do you want me to talk to them?"

"M-Most of them don't l-like you, or K-Kakashi-sensei very much, I d-don't think it will help…"

They walked the rest of the way to Konoha in silence, still holding hands. There was a large crowd waiting for them just inside the gates, led by the Hokage himself.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" The Hokage bellowed. "COME WITH ME IMMEDIATELY!" He turned and stalked towards the Hokage tower, the crowds parting silently before him.

Naruto swallowed nervously, he had never seen the Old-Man so mad before, at least not so mad at _him._ Team-Seven followed the Hokage through the silent crowd.

When they arrived at the tower, the Hokage slammed he door to his office open and ushered them in with a twitching scowl on his face. The door shut behind them with an ominous thud.

The Hokage sat at his desk, and watched them from over his steepled fingers. He was silent for what felt like an eternity to Naruto, before his twitching scowl turned into a wide smile and he burst out laughing, "You should have seen the looks on your faces!"

"Don't worry sensei," Jiraiya hopped into the room from the open window. "I took a picture." He had a small camera in his hands and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "But how about you tell them the reason for the show in front of the village?"

"Yes, well, the civilians, headed by the former civilian council of course, demand that you be 'punished' for the death of Haruno Umeko…"

"But I didn't do anything!" Naruto interrupted the Hokage.

"I know, Naruto, and so do they. But the civilians refuse to listen to reason. Danzo has actually insisted that you be publicly executed for the …what was it?" The Hokage stopped to rummage through the papers on his desk. "Oh yes," He found the document he was looking for, "'The horrible and inexcusable murder of Konoha's greatest civic hero.' No less then six times while you were away."

Before Naruto could interrupt again Jiraiya spoke, "Don't worry about it Naruto. In a public session the Jonin council ruled that the evidence was circumstantial at best, and likely an attempt to frame you."

"However…"The Hokage continued, "Because the Jonin Council couldn't completely clear your name, the Civilians demanded that you be punished in some way." A smirk tugged at the corner of the Hokage's lips. "When they heard that all three of you were being field-promoted to Chunin…"

"WHAT?" Naruto interrupted Hiruzen and leapt out of his chair. Naruto's eyes shone like twin stars.

"You didn't tell them?" The Hokage asked Kakashi. When the silver haired Jonin gave a bored shrug the Hokage rolled his eyes and continued, "Normally, anyone of the missions you have taken since you left, especially combined with the mission to the Land of Waves would have been enough for a field-promotion to Chunin…"

"Does that mean we're Chunin now?" Naruto interrupted excitedly.

"Let the Hokage talk, Naruto…" Kakashi reprimanded Naruto without looking up from his book.

"As I was saying, they demanded that you never be promoted to Chunin." Before Naruto could interrupt the Hokage held out a hand. "I denied their initial request of course, but when they suggest that I force you to take the exams instead so, and I quote, 'you could see how inadequate you are compared to _real_ shinobi,' I couldn't resist their offer."

"You didn't…" Kakashi looked up from his book, "And they _fell_ for that?" All three of the adults burst out laughing.

"Would someone mind actually _telling_ us what's going on here?!"

"The civilian's 'punishment' is actually a good thing for you." Jiraiya began, "A Genin who is field-promoted is put on probation for a year, and then must take a series of difficult tests before being allowed to assume the rank of Tokubetsu-Jonin, only after another year of probation are they allowed to become full Jonin."

"All of that doesn't apply if take the Chunin Exams and pass." The Hokage continued where Jiraiya left off. "The probationary period is only six months, and the test is much simpler, in addition there is also the option of being field-promoted to full Jonin, which is denied to those who were already field-promoted to Chunin. "

"Basically if you do well you could be a Jonin in as little as nine months from now, instead of two years." Kakashi summarized.

"Now that your 'punishment' has been handed out," The Hokage pulled a large stack of scrolls towards him, "It's time for your debriefing, and payment. In little over a month you have accumulated quite the collection of missions," he gestured to the pile of scrolls,

"First, one D-Rank and one C-rank from your original mission, there is nothing classified about these two missions, you may tell whoever you whish about them." He pulled six scrolls from the pile and handed them to Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata, "Here is your pay.

"Next an A-rank for the defense of Takigakure," He handed each of them a scroll, "The location of the entrance to Takigakure is an S-rank secret, as is the existence of the Hero Water.

"Plus a B-rank for the recovery of the Raijin no Ken," The Sandaime eyed Sasuke, before handing the scrolls over, "which I'll need returned immediately." Sasuke sighed and unclipped the Raijin no Ken from his belt, and placed it on the table.

"Next, an S-rank for the rescue of Fu, Jinchūriki of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi. Any information concerning Itachi is an SS-rank secret, as is Fu's status as a Jinchūriki."

After handing each of them their payment scrolls the Hokage continued, "Despite the danger a rogue summons presents, your rescue of the Daimyo's wife is only B-rank. However your defense of the Land of Sea is A-rank and your confrontation with Amachi is clearly S-rank."

He handed them the last of the scrolls. "Amachi's experiments are classified at A-rank, and Amachi himself has been moved up to S-rank missing-nin in our Bingo book."

"Let's see, One D, one C, two B's, Two A's, and Two S's. Congratulations on completing a year's worth of Jonin grade assignments in a month!" Jiraiya spoke as soon as the Hokage was finished speaking. "There are some people in the waiting room, who wanted to see you as soon as you got back."

Team Seven Pocketed the stacks of scrolls and stood to leave, "A-Are you coming K-Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head, "There's something important I want to discuss with the Hokage and Jiraiya. Run along, I'll catch up with you later."

As soon as Team seven left Kakashi pulled Amachi's Log book out of his vest. "Naruto only read the first quarter of the book, so he didn't notice this but…" Kakashi leafed through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here read this entry."

_Log Entry One Thousand Sixty Four:_

_I Cannot Believe It! I traveled halfway across the continent to show my findings to Orochimaru, I was made to wait for _HOURS_ and he greets me in a damnable fuzzy bathrobe! Then he has the nerve__, the_ NERVE_ to claim my research was reprehensible! We all know what he did to get kicked out of Konoha and _my_ research is reprehensible? When I tried to argue with the man his purple haired lap dog threw me out by the scruff of my neck!_

"Is he talking about Anko?" The Hokage asked.

"I assume so; they recognized each other when they met."

"I don't see the problem here." Jiraiya said, "We know she used to work for him."

"Sensei, check the date of the entry." Kakashi pointed to a series of numbers in the margin next to the entry.

"Four years ago? I don't…Oh…OH… Are you sure?" The Hokage asked, "Absolutely _certain_?"

"Positive."

The Hokage and Jiraiya shared a look. "I'll get some of my best men on it Sensei."

_**Location: ?, Date: Present Day?**_

"…ugh…" The sensation of falling face first into a frozen lake woke the man. He woke to darkness, and water. Chains, so cold they burned, secured to his body by metal spikes wrapped around his arms, and kept him from falling face first into the water. The ends of the chains faded up and away, into the gloom the surrounded him.

He could feel his chakra flowing into the chains through the spikes. It made him light-headed and dizzy. Still, he tried to stand, if only to get his face away from the dark, sewage smelling water.

When the world stopped spinning he was able to get a better look at his surroundings. A, seemingly endless, dark tunnel stretched away from the wall he was chained to. Dozens of pipes ran up and down its length. It was not, as he had first assumed pitch black. Malevolent red light poured down through a giant gash in the ceiling.

"We-Where am I?"

**A/N This chapter was originally about 6000 words long (give or take, I haven't finished it) But I decided to split it in to three to give my self a buffer zone.**

**Now I feel I owe you an explanation for the terrible update schedule I've been keeping lately (i.e.: None) this story was started when I was unemployed. During the six month hiatus I got a new job, it's a 45 hour minimum work week Sunday to Friday, frequent over time and around an hour to an hour and a half commute each way(by bus), in short it sucks and I have almost no free time. However I have recently retrieved my laptop (I lent it to my younger siblings) and am using it to write during the bus ride to and from work, and during my lunch break. I hope this along with my new buffer of two chapters will allow me to update my stories at one chapter a week (and increase my buffer).**

**Ciao **

**Xahn777**


	31. XXX: Home

**XXX: HOME**

**_Konoha: Three Months, Seven Days ago:_**

Team Seven headed to the Waiting room, to see who wanted to see them. As soon as Naruto opened the door a brown blur shot into him. "Can't… breathe… Haku-chan…" Haku had launched herself off of one of her mirrors as soon as Naruto stepped into the room.

"I'm Fu. And you must be Sasuke," A girl with short green hair, white clothes and bright orange eyes, sidled up to Naruto.

Naruto shook his head while trying to pry himself free of Haku's bone-crushing hug. "No… he…is…" He pointed to Sasuke, who was standing next to Hinata, a few feet behind him.

Fu raised an eyebrow, "But they told me Sasuke was the cute one! He looks like a duck landed on his head… You're much better looking!" She winked at him, "How about you take me out to dinner tonight?"

Hinata felt something snap in the back of her mind, Haku hadn't seen Naruto in a month and a half and while her…enthusiasm… certainly annoyed Hinata, Haku was their friend. But this girl was a total stranger and she was already trying to steal Naruto from her! "He can't take you out to dinner to night." She didn't notice the lack of stutter. "He's taking me out, right?" she asked Naruto with a glare

"…Grk…" Naruto had turned blue from lack of oxygen. Haku let go of Naruto suddenly, He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Oops…" Haku blushed, "I didn't mean to hurt you Naruto-kun."

"I-it's okay Haku-chan." Naruto gasped, before turning to Hinata, "Of course, we're celebrating tonight! All the ramen you can eat!"

"Only you would think all you can eat ramen is romantic, Fishcake."

"Hey! Don't insult ramen like that!"

"I wasn't insulting the ramen…"

"I h-happen to l-like ramen…"

"Wait a minute!" Fu interrupted Team Seven's friendly banter, "Isn't she your teammate? Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?"

"Nope," Jiraiya entered the room and clapped a large hand on Naruto's shoulder, "well, no laws you two have to worry about just yet." He winked at Naruto, causing the blonde boy to turn a shade of crimson Hinata would be proud of. "Oh, and congratulations, it only took you two, what seven years?"

"Was I the only person who didn't know?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Was the near unanimous answer, only Fu didn't say anything she just rolled her eyes and stomped off, muttering about having to get back to the hospital.

"So…what are we going to do now?" Sasuke asked. "I need to replace the Raijin no Ken

"I h-have to g-get ready…"

"I'm going walk Hinata home before I do anything else, but while I wait I can go weapon shopping with you I guess."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you later then." Sasuke waved to his teammates as he left. He almost bumped into the Hokage when he opened the door to leave.

"There you are Haku," He grinned malevolently, "Now that you've had the chance to greet Naruto, It's time to resume your 'training'."

"Yes, Sensei…" Haku sighed and followed the Sandaime out of the room.

"What was that all about?"

"Haku and Zabuza are taking the test to become fully accredited members of the Leaf." Jiraiya answered, "One of the requirements is six months training under a Konoha Jonin-sensei. Unfortunately for them Zabuza refused to even pretend to be trained by someone weaker than himself."

"So the Old-Man volunteered to be their Jonin-sensei, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah…poor kids… Sensei's a real slave driver." Jiraiya shook his head, "Anyway, we need to discuss your training regime. Sensei wants you three to be the stars of the Chunin Exams. But it can wait until tomorrow. I'll see you when you get home, don't stay out to late!" He winked at Naruto, and left the room laughing at the expression on his godson's face.

Naruto picked up Hinata's traveling pack and slung it over his shoulder, "You ready Hinata-chan?"

"Y-yes…" Hand-in-hand they walked out of the Hokage's tower and down the street to the clan district.

"You ready to face your family yet?" Naruto asked Hinata as they neared the massive Hyuuga complex.

Hinata shook her head, "H-How c-can I fight sea-m-monsters giant ch-chameleons an S-rank m-missing-nin and st-still be t-terrified of my own family?"

She didn't realize she had said that aloud until Naruto replied, "I remember when ero-Sennin started teaching me. He's the closest thing to family I ever had, and I wanted to make him proud. But I was pretty bad back then, I kept screwing up the most basic things." A wry smile spread over his face, "Hell, I still can't make a simple Bunshin. Ero-Sennin wouldn't cut me any slack either, He said most Shinobi families start basic training at four or five, and I was already seven. He would point out every little mistake I would make, and it made me feel terrible. But he would also praise me for getting things right. Those were the moments I lived for."

"Wh-what does that have to do with my f-family?"

"I've gotten a lot better right? Well, I still screw up and Ero-Sennin still points out all of my mistakes. Sure I don't make as many as I used to, but that makes his disappointment worse. That's why I train so hard, you know. I don't want to disappoint him. You want the same thing right? To make your family proud."

"Yes I g-guess…"

"Well, it's a shame they're too stupid to see how strong you've gotten."

Hinata was still blushing from Naruto's compliment when they reached the open gates of the Hyuuga compound.

"Oh…You're back…" A tall boy with long brown hair sniffed disdainfully at their approach, "Did you enjoy your little vacation?" he asked sarcastically. "Have fun building sand castles?"

"I-It was an A-rank N-Neji-nii-san!"

"Only the first part." Naruto chimed in, "The second was S-rank, don't forget."

"I saw the report." Neji snorted, "I just don't believe a word of it. There's no way they would assign a Genin team a mission like that. Especially not one as incompetent as yours."

"WHY YOU!" Naruto lunged towards the older boy, but Hinata tightened her grip on his hand.

"Do you think I'm afraid of some one who can still flunk out after being trained by one of the Legendary Sannin for five years?" He taunted, then when he noticed Hinata's grip on Naruto's hand, he began laughing. "If my worthless cousin can restrain you than you're weaker than I thought!"

"If you think Hinata is worthless, then you're stupider than you look." Naruto gave Hinata's hand a squeeze still trying not to destroy the punk in front of him, "She's worth three of you in a fight, Believe it."

Neji's eyes narrowed, "I…See…" His ice white eyes flashed with anger, "You know nothing about the Hyuuga. The last time we sparred I beat her without even trying. I pity Sasuke, having to drag you two dead weights around with him on all his missions… He'll be lucky to ever make Chunin with you two on his team…" Neji turned and walked back inside the gates.

"THAT ASSHOLE!" Screamed Naruto, venting his built up frustration as silver flecks of light flickered into existence around him.

"C-Calm d-down Naruto-kun." Hinata grabbed Naruto and tried to drag him away from the gates.

Naruto spun around still furious at Neji's attitude concerning Hinata and himself, "You're going to let him talk to you like that?!"

"B-But he's right…" Hinata sniffed, "The l-last time we sparred he b-beat me."

"Wait a minute… when was the last time you sparred?"

"Just b-before g-graduation, when I j-joined the team he t-told me t-to waste your t-time instead of his."

Naruto sighed, "Then he has no idea how strong you've gotten in the last nine months has he?"

"I…guess… not…?"

Naruto grinned evilly, "Well let's surprise him then…"

"Wh-what d-do you mean, Naruto-kun?"

"I have a plan, just don't spar with him yet okay?"

"I w-wasn't p-planning on asking…" Hinata replied.

"Good." Naruto handed Hinata her pack, "I gotta go help Sasuke, I'll be back as soon as I'm done ok?"

"T-Take your t-time Naruto-Kun, I need to get a hair c-cut." Hinata hadn't had a hair cut since before they left, he hair now hung down past her ears.

"Why would you do that? Long hair is pretty!"

"I' m the only one in the clan with hair as dark as mine… I don't want to stand out…"

"Well I think it looks pretty. Who cares what your clan thinks? As far as I can tell they're all brain damaged."

"What did you say about my clan, boy?"

"F-Father!"

Naruto didn't even turn around, "HinataI'veGottaGoI'llBeBackSoon!" He shouted as he ran away.

"The boy has certainly gotten faster…" He turned to Hinata, "Now tell me about these 'S-rank' missions you were given…"

Naruto leapt the wall of old Uchiha complex, and skidded to a halt on the other side. Sasuke cared little about maintenance and as a result the gate had rusted shut years ago.

Naruto shuddered, he hated entering the compound. It was completely deserted, and rather run down, giving the whole place an eerie haunted feel. "OI DUCK-BUTT!" Naruto shouted, "LET'S GO!"

"You don't need to shout, Fishcake." Came the response from directly behind him.

Naruto screamed and spun around, "Damn it Sasuke! You know how much I hate your house! Don't Do that!"

"My house isn't haunted Naruto…"

"It looks like it…" He shuddered again, "If you really won't move out, at least hire some repairmen to fix the place up or something…"

"I don't care." Sasuke shrugged and jumped to the top of the wall. "Let's go."

_**Three Hours Later:**_

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEM!" Naruto was shouting outside the eighth Weapons shop they had been to, "They kicked us out for no reason!"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, "Well, there's one more store left to go to…I really didn't want to go there but…"

"There is? I thought we'd been to every weapon shop in Konoha already!" Sasuke led Naruto to a small dingy building in an alley. "This is the place? What a dump!" A sign reading 'Higurashi Ninja Supply' hung over the doorway.

"Beggars can't be choosers. Let's go." A dusty jangle rang as Sasuke pushed the door open.

The of the store was dark and dusty with every available surface covered in weapons. Swords of various shapes and sizes covered the walls, there were tables with maces and axes lying in heaps, between the tables were barrels full of spears, naginatas and more pole-arms than Naruto had thought existed. Buckets of Kunai and Shuriken were arranged haphazardly throughout the store.

"Customers!" A girl, maybe one year older than them was behind the counter. She had dark hair pulled into to buns on top of her head and steel grey eyes. "Two of them!"

"Yeah were here to buy a…"Naruto began.

"Don't tell me!" she walked up to them with a calculating look on her face. "Hm… Maybe a… No, no…or how about…hmmm."

"You know if you'd just let us tell you what we wanted…"

"Hands!"

"What?"

"Give me your hands!"

She grabbed Naruto's hands first and immediately began poking and prodding his palms. "Hmm…theses calluses are odd…" She began messaging the muscles in his arms. "Hmmmm…"

"What are you doing!"

"I'm trying to figure out what weapon you use. Not a spear, it's too heavy to be a spear."

"I'm not the one who wants a weapon! I already have one."

"It doesn't matter Naruto, I always start with the cute one."

"What? Do I know you? And I have a girlfriend already!"

"I'm hurt Naruto I really am, we went to school together for three years and you don't know who I am?" The girl paused, "Oh, and tell Hinata I said congratulations."

"You weren't even in my class!"

"No I'm a year older." She began poking Naruto in the back. "Whatever it is you spin it far too much…"

"It's meant to be spun!"

"Hmmm well it's too heavy to be a quarter staff… My name is Tenten by the way, Higurashi Tenten."

"I don't need a weapon; I'm just here with Duck-butt to get a new…"

"SHHH!" She clapped a hand over his mouth, "I've almost got it!" She began to prod his chest. "AHA!" She jumped in the air with a small cheer, "It's a bladed staff isn't it?"

"My weapon? Yeah you could call it that."

"Well it's far too big for you, that really threw me off. It's not a common weapon so we don't have any in stock, but I'm sure my father can make one for you."

"It's fine; just help me find a weapon for this mute asshole." He gestured to Sasuke.

"Hn."

"Oh alright, Give me your hands Sasuke."

Sasuke grudgingly offered Tenten his hands, "Make this quick."

"Well…" Tenten said after only a moment of deliberation, "You obviously favor ninja-wire; the grooves in your calluses are a dead giveaway."

"Hn."

Tenten went back to her prodding, "Well, there's another set of calluses here , but they're really faint."

"I only had the weapon for a month."

"Hm…I want to say some kind of straight edged sword, but it's really light…"

"Actually," Naruto interrupted her, "That's exactly what it was."

"Huh?"

"We recovered the Raijin no Ken on our last mission," Sasuke explained, "but the Hokage made me return it as soon as we got back."

"WHAT!" She shouted as she grabbed Sasuke by the throat, "YOU HAD THE RAIJIN NO KEN AND YOU GAVE IT BACK?!" She shook him violently, "Wait…." She absentmindedly dropped him as a thought crossed her mind, "You said the Hokage has it now? Do you think he'd let me see it?"

"Is she always like this?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who had stood up shakily and was messaging his throat.

"Yes."

"Oh! I almost forgot about you two…"Tenten stared at the swords on the wall. "Hmm… I'm sure we had a chokutō in your size here somewhere." Tenten shook her head, "Just a moment it's not out here." She disappeared behind a curtain on the other side of the counter. A few minutes later she stepped out carrying a sword, "It's a little long, but it's the closest fit."

The blade was long and straight, ending in a chisel tip, the white hilt was almost perfectly rectangular with a small groove running down the length of the hilt and down to the matching white scabbard.

Sasuke drew the sword and gave it an experimental swing, "It's perfect, thank you Tenten."

"I got to go, Sasuke, I still haven't been home yet, I need to get ready!"

"Hn."

Naruto sped down the street, towards the apartment he still shared with Jiraiya and Kakashi.

Meanwhile, Hinata was in her room getting dressed when her younger sister Hanabi walked in.

"What are you doing nee-chan?" Hanabi asked her older sister.

"I'm g-going out s-soon Hanabi. I have to g-get ready."

"But those are your nice clothes," She frowned," you _never_ wear your nice clothes, unless father makes you…"

"I w-w-want t-to look n-nice…" Hinata blushed a fierce shade of red.

Hanabi's eyes went wide, "Your going on a _date_!" she clapped her hands together "Who are you going with? Is it someone I know? Ooooh is it Sasuke?"

"N-No I d-don't think you kn-know him."

There was a knock on the door, " Hinata-sama there is some one here to see you."

"Oh l-let him in."

"He's waiting by the gate Hinata–sama we didn't want to let him in."

Hinata sighed, "I have t-to g-go now Hanabi, I'll b-be b-back after d-dinner."

After her sister left the room Hanabi opened the window and climbed out. 'I wonder who she's going to see.' She wondered when she beat her sister to the gate and managed to climb a tree without being noticed. 'Let's see…who is she waiting for? It can't be the stupid looking blond midget.' She looked around but the only non-Hyuuga she could see was the short blond haired boy with the metallic purple eyes.

"Him?" she snorted when her sister arrived and bashfully greeted the blond. "I have to stop them!"

"Agreed." Hanabi nearly fell out of the tree when she heard the quite voice answer her."_I'm_ a much better match for him then that pale eyed mouse." A girl with green hair and orange eyes had appeared in the tree next to her.

Hanabi glared at the strange girl, "That's my sister you're talking about."

"Whatever, you gonna help me stop them or not?"

"S-sure…"

**Beta'd by harry cipperfield dresden**


	32. XXXI: Interference

A/N: Oh yeah… Sasuke's sword is a white version of his sword from the manga, in case I wasn't clear enough/ you had trouble visualizing it.

XXXI: Interference

Unaware of the trouble brewing behind them, Naruto and Hinata walked hand in hand down the road.

"Um…Naruto-kun, Ichiraku ramen is the other way."

"I know, but we're not going there today." Naruto said with a smile. "There's a really nice restaurant down here."

"I thought Ichiraku's was your favorite place…"

"It is, and they're the only place that doesn't overcharge me for the food. But I wanted to take you somewhere really nice."

Hanabi and Fu followed a close distance behind, trying to stay out of sight, but still within earshot.

"That's…that's a _nice_ restaurant…" Hanabi observed when the couple finally reached their destination. "How can a Genin afford a meal there?"

"I overheard heard their Jonin-sensei, they just made a _lot_ of money on their last mission."

"Wait…" Hanabi said, "They're on the same team?" She frowned, "There has to be a rule about that!"

"They're going inside, what do we do now?"

"There's a balcony in the back maybe we can sneak in through there?"

"How do you know that?"

"My father has taken us here before." Hanabi answered, "It's really expensive."

The two of them circled around the building. On the other side they found a large balcony, surrounded by trees.

"Careful," Fu whispered to Hanabi as they climbed a tree, "we don't want to get caught."

However, just as Fu was about to jump onto the currently deserted balcony the door into the restaurant opened and out walked Naruto and Hinata, led by a waiter. "I'm terribly sorry," The waiter said, "but this is the only available dining area."

"But we walked pats a dozen empty tables inside!" Naruto complained.

"I'm terribly sorry," The waiter repeated in an incredibly insincere voice, "But those tables are reserved."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Whatever, which table is ours?"

The waiter gave Naruto an almost genuine smile, "Whichever one you want, we have no reservations for outside today."

Naruto and Hinata sat at a small table in the far corner of the balcony, and began leafing through the menus.

"Do you think they can see us?" Fu asked.

Hanabi shook her head, "The angle's all wrong for the blond, and my sister is terrible with her Byakugan."

"Good." Fu slung the large cloth wrapped object off of her shoulder and braced it against a tree branch.

"What's that?" Hanabi asked the older ninja.

Fu removed the red and white cover, revealing an odd layered chest. "My supplies." Fu answered as snapped the clasp open causing the chest to fan out, making each compartment individually accessible.

Bottles and jars were crammed into most of the compartments. Each bottle contained a different substance. Some were full of liquid others had metallic looking dust, a few had viscous gel.

A long thin rod was strapped to the lid, along with several flat boxes while Coiled in the bottom of the case lay a large whip, nestled in velvet lined depressions were a dozen hooked rings, each shaped like a scorpion's stinger, as well as a pair of blackened iron claws.

Fu unstrapped the rod and opened one of the flat boxes. Inside were a dozen tiny needles threaded with red fluff.

"A blowdart?" Hanabi asked when she realized what the rod was, "What kind of Ninja uses a weapon like that?"

"A stealthy one." Fu answered, while she carefully coated the tiny needle with a blue gel.

"What are you going to do?"

"Just put him to sleep for a little while." Fu took careful aim and shot Naruto in the neck with a dart. He absentmindedly swatted at his neck knocking the dart loose. "Any second now..." Fu muttered, "any second now…"

"It's not working." Hanabi glared at Fu.

Fu scratched her face, "That should have been enough to knock a dozen people out…" She selected another dart and coated it with the same blue gel. "Well, let's see how your sister handles a little soporific."

Fu took aim once more and fired at Hinata this time. But before the dart reached its target it was intercepted by a thin silver flash that knocked the dart out of the sky.

"Who did that?" Hanabi was surprised to see someone hit such a small moving target with such accuracy.

Fu glared at a distant tree, "Haku…"

Sure enough Haku was crouched on a branch directly opposite them. She winked at Fu while she twirled a Senbon around the fingers of one hand.

"Who's that?" Hanabi asked.

"Just someone I know." Fu glared at the girl in the tree opposite her. "This is going to be much harder with her in the way…"

While Fu was plotting her next move the waiter returned to take their order.

"I think the Kitchens are under the balcony." Hanabi said, "Maybe one of us could do something to their food?"

"That's a good idea." Fu rummaged around her chest and pulled a box of throwing darts out. "Take these," She said while coating the darts with the blue soporific, "And use them to keep Haku busy."

"How?"

"Throw them at her or Naruto, or your sister or something." Fu shrugged, "It doesn't matter if you hit them just keep Haku from following me." Fu grabbed her blow gun and tucked a case of darts into her belt, after a moment's hesitation she strapped the claws onto her forearms and grabbed her whip as well. "If anything happens to my chest while I'm gone…"

Hanabi gulped, "Don't worry I'll keep it safe."

Fu slid down the tree and crept up to the windows under the balcony. She carefully peeked into one, 'There's the kitchen,' she thought, 'now how to get in….'

She slunk around the building until she found the employees' exit. She waited in the shadow of a dumpster for someone to open the door and snuck in behind them when they re-entered the kitchen. From there it was the simple matter of staying out of sight while she tracked down Naruto's waiter.

She saw him leave the kitchen with a tray of ramen. 'Gotcha.' She smirked, before nailing the waiter with a sleep dart.

The waiter wobbled. But before he dropped someone slipped out of the shadows and caught the waiter and his tray.

'What the… where did he come from?'

Sasuke winked at Fu as he Henged into the waiter and strolled off with Naruto and Hinata's food.

'That smarmy bastard…' Fu followed Sasuke, sticking to the shadows to avoid being spotted by the restaurants employees.

Sasuke turned a corner so fast Fu almost lost him, by the time she caught up he was climbing the stairs that led to the balcony. She sped up to try to intercept him before he could open the door but as she cleared the sixth step her foot snagged on a ninja wire and she tripped and slid down the stairs.

"Ow…" Fu rubbed her shins, "He's a sneaky bastard too…"

Meanwhile, Hanabi was having major difficulty with Haku. Instead of her keeping Haku busy, it seemed to be the other way around. Haku kept launching barrages of needles every time she so much as peeked over the edge of the tree branch she was hiding behind.

And when the waiter came with Naruto and Hinata's food she could have sworn he smirked at her when he left.

That was when Haku made her move; she used one of her mirrors to practically teleport across the balcony. Haku crashed into her shoulder first, knocking them both out of the tree Hanabi had been standing in.

At first Hanabi was glad; after all she was a genius when it came to Juuken, and this girl seemed to specialize in Senbon. She was confident she could win, and then maybe she could end her sister's date with one of the darts Fu left her.

Of course, this was before Hanabi realized just how fast Haku was. Haku pushed her farther and farther from the restaurant with a dizzying array of punches and kicks. The only person Hanabi had ever fought that could not only beat her but corral her like this was her father. Even Neji would have had to take a few blows to push her this far back.

Back in the restaurant, Fu had managed to finally untangle herself from the trap Sasuke had placed on the stairs when he returned from delivering Naruto and Hinata's food.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull," Sasuke growled, "But I won't let you ruin a relationship seven years in the making." Sasuke's cold black eyes turned blood red, with three red tomoe spinning lazily in each eye. "Prepare yourself." He drew his new chokutō and charged the green haired girl.

'He's fast!'

Fu barely had time to flip her claws down to block his attack before Sasuke had closed the distance between them. Fu didn't expect a Genin to be capable of doing seal-less jutsu, so when Sasuke spat a fireball at her while still pushing against her block, it caught her full in the face and knocked her through an open window and into the decorative garden surrounding the restaurant.

"D-Damn… I didn't expect him to be this strong…"

Sasuke leapt through the window after her; his Sharingan seemed to glow in the fading light as the sun set behind Konoha's walls. "You will regret this."

Hanabi had been pushed so far back that she couldn't even see the restaurant her sister and the blond where eating at. Haku had upped the ante now that they were fighting in a back alley, and her senbon flew fast and furious. Soon Haku had her literally pinned to a wall.

Haku patted the girl on the head, "As much as I would rather it be me with Naruto right now, Naruto made his choice and I want him to be happy. Can you do the same for your sister?"

Hanabi just glared at Haku.

"Oh well." Haku shrugged "You have plenty of time to learn." She gave the younger girl a friendly wave and walked back towards the restaurant. "Think about what I said okay?"

Fu was incredibly embarrassed. Even without her Bijuu cloak, or her more destructive Jutsu she should have been able to beat Sasuke. But he managed to drive her off with nothing but his sword and his wires.

She staggered into an alleyway to hide from the red-eyed terror and found Hanabi silently struggling to pull herself loose from a wall.

"Haku got you, yeah?"

"She's fast…" Hanabi grumbled, "What happened to you?"

"Sasuke got me when I tried to get their waiter." Fu began pulling Senbon out of Hanabi, "Come on, let's get out of here before Sasuke catches up to me again…"

"Too late."

The screams could be heard for miles.

_Later That Evening:_

Naruto and Hinata stood outside the Hyuuga compound.

"We Sh-Should thank Sasuke and Haku for all their hard work t-today."

"And spoil their fun?"

"G-Good point." Hinata giggled.

"We've got training tomorrow," Naruto said, "we should get some rest."

"I h-had a r-really n-nice time… Th-Thank you…" Naruto had grown a bit since they graduated, but Hinata still had to bend down to give Naruto a kiss. She wobbled a bit, but didn't faint.

"G-G-good N-N-Night." Naruto managed to stutter out before she entered the compound. "I-I-I'll see you tomorrow…"

_Location: Unknown. Date: Unknown._

"_Wh-where am I?" _The man struggled against his chains put the spikes held fast.

There was a rumbling sound and a chunk of wall easily twice the man's size came crashing down. Embedded into the chunk of wall on one side were iron bars as thick around as the man's thigh.

"Do you see what your actions have caused?" A deep voice rumbled.

A/N: Cut! What you thought I tell you what's (or where, or when) going on?

For now, expect updates on Friday or Saturday. Once my buffer grows to six chapters I plan on updating Wednesday and Saturday.

Beta'd By harry copperfield dresden


	33. XXXII: Preperations

**XXXII: Preparations**

_**Konoha, Three Months Six Days Ago**_

Jiraiya dragged Naruto out of bed long before the sun came up. "Come on brat! It's time to start your training for the Chunin Exams!"

Naruto groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "Go 'way…"

"Now, now Naruto" Jiraiya admonished, "There's no time for that." With a flick of his wrists he pulled Naruto's blankets off.

When all Naruto did was whimper, Jiraiya sighed and pulled a bucket of water from a storage seal. It had ice cubes floating in it.

"Last chance Naruto." Jiraiya said in a sing-song voice. When Naruto didn't respond Jiraiya gleefully dumped the bucket on Naruto's head.

"GAH COLD!" Naruto leapt out of bed shivering from the cold. "DAMN IT, YOU PERVY BASTARD! I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Jiraiya dropped Naruto's towel on his head. "Dry yourself off and let's go. It's been a month and I hear you've managed to learn _two_ new abilities."

"Do we really have to start at three in the morning?"

"We have a month and a half to get you ready for the Chunin exams" Jiraiya answered, "so for the next month you will be training for eighteen hours a day."

"WHAT?" Naruto interrupted, "That's ridiculous!"

Jiraiya shrugged, "The Chunin exams are more than a test Naruto, and Sensei wants your team to be the stars of the show but this Exam is going to have some serious competition."

Half an hour later Naruto, still damp from Jiraiya's wake up call, stood in the center of Training Ground Zero waiting impatiently for Jiraiya. "How is it he can wake me up and still be late?" Naruto asked himself as Jiraiya strolled down the path fifteen minutes late.

"Kakashi tells me you can see and absorb chakra now" Jiraiya began, "so I want to test the limits of your ability before we begin our new routine." Jiraiya extended his arm, "Drain my chakra as fast as you can."

Naruto grabbed his arm with both hands within seconds Jiraiya had tapped out. "Th-that was fast…." He panted, after shoving a handful of Soldier pills into his mouth like candy.

"How much of the person's chakra can you retain after draining it?" Jiraiya asked when he regained his breath.

"All of it. Why?"

"ALL OF IT?" Jiraiya shouted.

"Um… of course. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that that should be impossible!" Jiraiya began to pace back and forth.

"There are a few medical grade Justu that allow you to absorb someone else's chakra, but it's mainly used to unblock chakra channels damaged by Juuken strikes. However only the best of the best can keep even one tenth of the energy they absorb."

"Really?" Naruto asked, "What's so hard about that?"

"Naruto, how does Juuken work?"

"Um… the user forces their chakra into someone else?"

"And absorbing chakra is like a reverse Juuken strike." Naruto still looked puzzled, so Jiraiya continued, "You're forcing foreign Chakra into your channels. Only the most skilled Med-nins can do more than just expel the chakra. To be able to absorb and use all of that chakra…"

"Really? Wow…"

"Well," Jiraiya began, "Make …seven hundred clones…"

"I can't." Naruto hung his head in shame.

"Eh? What? Why not?"

"I can't make more than one clone without getting motion sick…"

Jiraiya's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Why would making clones make you sick?"

"Kakashi-sensei didn't tell you? When I make a shadow clone I can see through their eyes."

"WHAT?" Jiraiya almost fell over in shock, "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT SILVER-HAIRED SLACKER!"

"Um…What's the big deal Ero-Sennin?"

"THE BIG DEAL?" Jiraiya took a deep breath, "The big deal is I know of only one Doujutsu that lets the user do something like that."

"Well…What is it?"

"I don't want to get your hopes up yet Naruto." Jiraiya started pacing again, "And if I'm right…well let's just say that people finding out whom your parents are will be the least of your worries."

"Oh… that bad?"

"Worse, there'll probably be daily attempts to kidnap you in order to use you as breeding stock." After a moment of awkward silence Jiraiya continued, "Well I guess we're going to have to focus on getting you used to seeing things through your clones' eyes."

Later that morning the rest of Team Seven gathered in their traditional spot.

"I wonder where Naruto –kun is…" Hinata asked Sasuke.

"Probably training with Jiraiya for the Chunin exams."

"What about us?"

"Well," Kakashi answered as he strolled over to them, a good half hour late, "For the first month each of you will train one-on-one with a Jonin of my choice. Afterwards there will be two weeks of teamwork exercises and training."

"What about the last two weeks Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Free time. We want you three to be at your best for the exams after all."

"All right then… I assume you'll be my personal trainer?"

"Correct. Meet me at Training Ground Seven. I'll be there in a few minutes, I have something need to discuss with Hinata."

Sasuke shrugged and strolled off towards the training ground at a leisurely pace.

Once he was out of ear shot Kakashi began, "I had some trouble finding a Jonin to train you. I wanted Guy, but he says he's entering his own team this year, surprisingly so are Kurenai and Asuma."

Hinata looked crest fallen, "Does that mean you couldn't find anyone to train me?"

"No, I did but…"

"Wh-what's wrong Kakashi-sensei?"

"I got Anko to agree to train you for the next month but..."

"What's the problem then?"

After a moment's hesitation Kakashi answered, "Anko is up to something…I'm not sure what, but we're assigning you an A-rank spying mission; keep an eye on her okay?"

"Wh-Wh-what?" Hinata stuttered, "Y-You w-want me to sp-spy on a jonin?"

"Why not? You're actually one of the best I've ever seen at going unnoticed in a crowd."

Hinata frowned, was being unnoticeable really that good?

Kakashi noticed her frown and continued, "Hinata, you stalked Naruto for seven years. It was my job to protect Naruto for five of them. I. Never. Saw. You. Once. If you wanted to kill him there would have been nothing we could have done."

"What's so good about that?"

"It's the stuff legends are made of Hinata. You could make Tokubetsu-Jonin right now if you wanted to."

"I-I c-could?"

"Yes Hinata, You're one of the most talented shinobi I've ever met. In a few years people will talk about you in the same voice they use for Senju Hashirama, Jiraiya, Tsunade , and Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"I d-don't know…"

"Hinata…Ever since you guys got back from those missions the Jonin have started tp compare your team to the Legendary Sannin themselves."

Hinata was stunned, the village Jonin thought that highly of her? "O-Okay…I'll d-do it…"

"Good, Anko will meet you at the Hokage's Tower in half an hour."

Once Hinata left Kakashi headed towards Training Ground Seven. He took the scenic route through Training grounds eight and nine, and arrived half an hour after Sasuke.

"You're late." Sasuke grumbled.

"Sorry I had to help a little old lady up the stairs with her groceries."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before asking, "What are you going to train me in?"

"Let's start by perfecting your Nature Transformations. Naruto is still miles ahead of you in that area. After that…Maybe I'll coach you on better Sharingan usage."

Hinata barely made it to the Tower in time. Anko was already waiting for her when she arrived. "Good, you're on time. I was afraid you might have picked up that slacker's bad habits."

"Wh-What are you g–going to t-teach me Anko-sensei?"

"Well Kakashi tells me you're the team's taijutsu specialist, correct?" She asked while looking at a note written in Kakashi's untidy scrawl. "But you also have no small skill in Suiton Ninjutsu and a little Doton as well…"

"Y-Yes."

"Well I can't help you with those, but Kakashi said you tire faster than your Teammates. So we're going to focus on endurance, both physical, mental, and Chakra."

Each Sensei set a brutal training regime for their students; Jiraiya forced Naruto to defend attacks from angles that only his clone could see, first with his eyes closed, then with them open. When he was comfortable with one clone Jiraiya made him use two, then three then four and by the end of the week Naruto could manage six clones simultaneously without getting motion sick. Anymore than that, it seemed, was beyond him.

Kakashi had Sasuke 'borrow' Naruto's training style, and while Sasuke could only manage fifty clones at once, by the end of the week he had finally fully mastered his lightning transformation and almost mastered his fire.

Anko would wake Hinata at random times, often after only an hour of sleep and force her to run for hours while Anko chased her with her snakes. The course Anko set would include running up and down buildings or across the outside of the village walls.

Team Seven sat together at Ichiraku Ramen at the end of the seventh day.

Sasuke sat with his head on the table clutched between both hands, "My head…How the hell do you do it Fishcake?"

Naruto still looked a little green from his training, "Do what?"

"Train with so many clones…" Sasuke groaned, "My poor head…"

"Dispel them in twos or threes until you get used to it." Naruto said while he picked at his food. "I can't eat…"

"Why?"

"Ero-Sennin had me trying for seven clones all day. I still feel sick."

"Hn."

Hinata had bags under her eyes and barely seemed to be able to keep them open. While Naruto and Sasuke grumbled all she did was shovel down food.

When she was on her fifteenth bowl Naruto asked, "What's wrong Hinata-chan?"

"Anko…evil…" She managed to say. "No…sleep…all…week…" Of course she didn't mention the other reasons he got no sleep, what free time she had she spent following Anko. "So…tired…" She said before laying her head on the table

"So…" Sasuke said, "Still stuck on six clones?"

"Yeah anymore and it becomes too much to handle… At this rate we'll never get to what Jiraiya sensei wanted to teach me…"

"Blindfold…them…" Hinata murmured, before she began to snore.

"Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…" Naruto began banging his head on the table, "I… Can't… Believe… I… Didn't… Think… of… That…" He said between thumps.

"Please stop…" Sasuke whimpered. Hinata didn't stop snoring however.

It was to that scene, Hinata snoring gently, Sasuke whimpering in pain and Naruto banging his head against the table chanting 'Stupid…Stupid…Stupid…' That Anko Kakashi and Jiraiya entered Ichiraku ramen.

"I think we broke them."Anko giggled when she saw the trio.

"The competition is tough this year. The Hokage wants there to be no doubts which team is the best this year." Kakashi said before he walked over to Sasuke, "Come on Sasuke It's time for you to get some rest" He helped Sasuke to his feet and ushered him out of the ramen stand.

"We all know you're stupid brat, but if you keep that up you'll owe them a new table. You can tell me what finally made you realize your own stupidity in the morning, let's go."

Naruto got up with a sigh, "Yes Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya cuffed him in the back of the head, "And stop calling me that in public."

Anko picked up the sleeping girl, "Alright let's get you home, I'll let you sleep in this time."

The next morning after explaining Hinata's idea to Jiraiya, which had caused the Sannin to begin banging is head on a tree to a chorus of 'Stupid…Stupid…' Jiraiya made Naruto make one thousand two hundred clones.

"Why so many Ero-Sennin?"

"We're already a week behind schedule. You're going to need to leave a batch running all night too."

Naruto gulped, Batches of more than a thousand still gave him migraines. "All right, what are we working on?"

"Rasengan. Your solution to your inability to form it by yourself is cute, but especially now when you're having difficulty with your clones, you need to be able to do it by yourself." Jiraiya continued, "So for now divide your clones in two groups, one group for general chakra control, the other is to focus on Rasengan."

Sasuke only had to wait fifteen minutes for Kakashi to show up, "So are we continuing my Fire Transformation?"

"No. We're working on something else this week."

"What? And why not?"

"You need more combat experience to really complete your transformation, if it wasn't for the Land of Sea; you wouldn't have been able to finish your Lightning transformation so quickly."

"Why not? Naruto finished his without combat experience!"

"It also took Naruto approximately two thousand years to complete all three transformations."

"Oh…"

"You don't have the chakra capacity to brute force your way through training like he does." Kakashi explained, "Hell, I couldn't make a quarter the clones he can and I've been a ninja longer than he's been alive."

Kakashi raised his Hitai-Ate, revealing his Sharingan, "Activate your eyes Sasuke."

As soon as Sasuke's eyes switched from black to red Kakashi attacked. Sasuke barely had time to duck his sensei's vicious right hook. He tried to counter with a leg sweep but Kakashi casually hopped over it and kicked the still crouching Sasuke in the head.

Sasuke bounced off a tree and landed on his feet. He charged Kakashi and feinted with his left but swung with his right. When Kakashi easily caught Sasuke's punch Sasuke shifted position and tried to uppercut his sensei. Kakashi caught that punch too and countered with a headbutt. It connected and while Sasuke was dazed Kakashi swept his feet out from underneath him.

"Why did you lose?" Kakashi asked when Sasuke had recovered enough to sit up.

"Because you're stronger than me?"

"No, I was holding back to your level the entire fight. I fought with the same speed, the same strength and the same skill you posses."

"So how did you beat me?"

"I know how to use my sharingan to read the moves of my opponent."

"So? My Sharingan shows me the moves of my opponents too."

"Sasuke, a Taijutsu expert can read an opponent's body to predict what they are going to do."

"Like a sharingan?"

"Not exactly, they read muscle movement to predict your moves. The sharingan reads chakra movement and creates a picture of what that person is going to do. This is a huge advantage against a normal fighter, true. However against someone skilled in reading your movements the difference in perception speed is negligible."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Learn to read the muscle movements in your opponents' chakra shadow of course." Kakashi answered with a cheeky eye smile.

Anko stepped up her training regime as well, she only let Hinata get sleep in half hour chunks, and would force her to run until she collapsed, then Anko would start the cycle all over.

By the end of the month Naruto could from a flawless Rasengan using both hands, or he could form an unstable one in each hand. Sasuke could read some of his opponent's moves the way Kakashi wanted him to. And Hinata, after a good two days solid sleep found that her chakra reserves had almost doubled and her physical stamina was nearly that of Sasuke.

The next two weeks were spent doing constant teamwork exercises and in-village D-rank missions. By the end of their pre-Chunin exam Training they were stronger and tighter knit than ever before.

_**Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:**_

"So," Tsunade said when Jiraiya stopped for breath, "You're finally going to tell us what happened at the Chunin Exams? It took you long enough…"

"It's important for you to know what he can do and what he's been through."

"Couldn't you give me a list?"

"That would've been boring… Besides I wanted you to like the kid."

"Why?"

"You're the only family he has, Kakashi and I tried to fill that gap but… Do you have any idea what actually meeting his only living relative would mean to the kid?" when Tsunade looked away Jiraiya continued, "Don't just heal them and leave. Please if you won't stay for me, or for the village, stay for your family."

"I… I'll think about it okay?"

**A/N:**

**Next chapter begins the Chunin Exams (which I hope most of you are looking forward to). I expect the arc to be about 10 chapters (Knowing me it'll end up closer to fifteen or twenty…) plus two or three chapters that take place in the present. **

**Beta'd by harry copperfield dresden**


	34. XXXIII: The Beginning

**XXXIII: The Beginning**

_**Konoha**__, __**One Month, Ten Days ago:**_

It was the day before the Chunin exams began. Naruto and Hinata were walking home from Ichiruka ramen when they bumped into Konohamaru.

"Boss!" He shouted when he saw Naruto. "Where have you been?"

"I was on a mission for a while, then I had training for the Chunin exams. Sorry I've been really busy".

"You're taking the Chunin exam?" Konohamaru bounced around excitedly, "Hey, boss I'm gonna graduate next year, Do you think you could be my Jonin Sensei?"

"I doubt it; I think there's a bunch of tests you have to take to qualify as a sensei." Naruto shuddered, "and I hate tests."

"Aww…"

"Besides I haven't even made Chunin yet. But if it makes you feel better I promise to teach you a few of my moves later okay?"

"Yeah!" Konohamaru danced with joy, before stopping and looking at his watch, "Oh crap! I'm gonna be late! Ebisu-sensei will kill me! Bye Boss!"

"Wh-who was that Naruto-kun? And why was he calling you b-boss?"

"That was Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson."

"And he wants you, instead of his g-grandfather to t-train him?"

"Well…I did beat the Hok…" a loud scream interrupted Naruto "That sounds like Konohamaru!" He shouted as he ran towards the direction it came from.

He skidded to a halt on the main road that led from the east gate. A large boy, maybe two years older than them, wearing what appeared to be cat themed pajamas and makeup smeared in a complex pattern across his face, with a large cloth wrapped bundle slung over his shoulder, held Konohamaru by the throat.

"What'd you do that for?" he growled.

"OI!" Naruto shouted, "Put him down _now_."

"He ran right into me! He needs to learn to respect his elders!"

"Put him down Kankuro." A blond girl, with four pigtails and a giant fan strapped to her back, sighed, "He'll never learn if you choke him to death anyway."

"But Temari…"

"Now, before Gaara gets here."

Kankuro paled at the thought and dropped the Hokage's grandson. He shooed him away with a kick, "Get lost!"

"That was probably a bad idea you know." Naruto said. "That was the Hokage's only grandson, and he's very protective of him."

The boy paled even further. "Kankuro if you just lost us the exams I will kill you before Gaara even has the chance to."

"Y-You're t-taking the exams t-too?" Hinata asked. "Are you the T-Team from S-Suna?" She gestured towards their Hitai-ate.

"Yeah, and we're the strongest team in the competition." Kankuro boasted.

"I'm afraid you're wrong." A voice said from behind them. Kankuro and Temari spun around, behind them stood Sasuke, with his sword stuck through the back his belt, and red eyes gleaming, he gestured to Hinata and Naruto. "We're the strongest team in the Exam."

Kankuro burst out laughing, "You three? Aren't you a little young?"

"Kankuro…" Temari warned her brother.

"What? Look at the blond one! He looks like he's ten!"

"That had better not be a crack about my height." Naruto growled. "Things will get very… unpleasant… if that's the case."

"Kankuro." It was a new voice, soft and cold "Make a scene and I will kill you."

Sasuke turned around, behind him a boy maybe a year younger than them hung from the underside of a tree. He had spiky red hair, no eyebrows; the Kanji for love tattooed into his forehead, across his back was a giant gourd, and most distinctly pale green eyes surrounded by dark rings.

"G-G-Gaara!" Kankuro stammered, "W-w-we were j-just s-saying h-hello to these f-fine leaf-nin!

"Return to Baki. Now. Or I will kill you."

"O-O-Of c-course Gaara!" Kankuro ran off in a dead sprint.

"**Kit…"**Kurama's voice echoed inside Naruto's head. **"That boy is a Jinchuriki… But something is terribly wrong."**

'What are you talking about?' Naruto thought back. 'How can you tell?'

"**Bijuu can sense each other, and talk mind to mind"** Kurama replied, with a note of hesitation in his voice, **"But Shukaku isn't responding…"**

'Are you sure it's him?'

"**We…Don't really get along…But it's bad manners to not greet another Bijuu when you meet one."**

'I'll keep my eyes open don't worry.'

"**Good, after what we found in the Land of Sea… I'm worried, and I don't like it."**

'Me too.'

The red haired boy, Gaara, according to his teammate, glared at Naruto before disappearing in a swirl of sand.

Once he was gone Naruto spoke, "He's a Jinchuriki too."

"Wh-what? Are you s-sure? How can you tell?"

"They must be the 'serious competition' the Hokage spoke about."

"They're not the only team." Kakashi startled them with his sudden appearance. "There are a few other teams you have to worry about."

"Gah! Don't do that!" Naruto shouted.

"Wh-which teams?"

"Now, Now, That would be cheating." All three of his students glared at him. Kakashi sighed, "Fine, Guy's team and the obvious one."

"What obvious one!" Three annoyed voices asked in unison.

Judging from the tone of his voice, Kakashi was grinning evilly behind his mask, "You'll see."

"Stupid one-eyed pervert slacker." Naruto muttered once Kakashi had left, "Would it really have been so difficult for him to tell us who he was talking about?"

"Apparently." Sasuke grumbled.

Kakashi reappeared behind Naruto, Absentmindedly clocked him over the head, and said, "I almost forgot to remind you, make sure you get plenty of rest and bring all the supplies you can fit in three of Naruto's storage seals."

"Do you know how much that is?" Naruto grumbled, "That's enough for a month long mission outside of Konoha."

"Good, I doubt you'll need any of it, but I have a bad feeling about the second part of the test."Kakashi replied, "Now, I know it's early but I want you three to go home and get some rest. The test begins at eight in the morning. Don't be late or you'll be disqualified."

After Kakashi left for the second time Naruto pulled two storage scrolls from his pocket. "I've been meaning to go to that weapons place again and fill these with Kunai and Shuriken, but I haven't had the time." He handed the scrolls to Sasuke and Hinata. "They should hold enough for all your gear."

"Thanks Naruto-kun."

"Hn." Despite Sasuke's disinterested grunt, Naruto could it was taking all of Sasuke's self control to not jump for joy; he hated carrying his pack around.

"Well, I've got to go pack." Naruto said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"G-Good night Naruto-kun."

"Hn." Sasuke was clearly trying not to drool all over the storage scroll Naruto gave him.

The next morning Team Seven met outside the building they were taking the test in. A Note on the door aid the test was taking place in room 301.

"Come on," Sasuke said to his teammates, "we don't want to be late."

"We have an hour, Duckbutt. What's the rush?"

"No rush, I want some time to observe our competition though."

"Th-that's a g-good idea." Hinata said as she followed her teammates into the building.

As they went past the second floor landing Naruto turned to Hinata, "How bad is your cousin at counting?" He asked.

"Um…I don't think he's bad at it, why?"

"Because we just went past his team trying to get into room 201."

"There was a genjutsu on the landing, Fishcake."

"Oh, it mustn't be very strong then, I only forgot for a second that the part where the stairs turn isn't the second floor."

"I d-doubt Neji-nii-san would be fooled by that then."

"His team must be pretending to be stupid."

"That's a good idea! Hey Sasuke do you think we should try too?"

"You wouldn't have to try." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Yeah." It took Naruto a moment to realize what he had just said, "HEY! That wasn't funny Duckbutt."

Sasuke smirked, "Yes it was."

Hinata was trying not to laugh.

They reached third floor landing and stepped into the hallway, "aw man…" Naruto complained, "We came up on the wrong side of the building." He pointed to the door next to the stairway; the number 334 hung over the door.

"Don't complain it's not that far."

But when they reached a junction in the hallways the found the way towards room 301 blocked by the strangest looking figure they had seen in a long time. He wore skin tight green spandex, orange legwarmers, huge eyebrows and hair in a shiny bowel cut.

"I am terrible sorry." The strange boy said, "But are you Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes I am."

"The prodigy?"

"I guess…"

"Then I challenge you to a fight."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My name is Rock Lee I wish to prove that you can be a great Shinobi with Taijutsu alone." The green Stranger said.

"Will you let us pass if I say no?"

"No I will not."

Team Seven shared a look, "I guess I have to accept your challenge then." Sasuke said with a shrug.

The stranger, Rock Lee, charged at Sasuke as soon as he assumed his fighting stance.

'He's fast!' If it wasn't for Kakashi's training the first punch would have been the last. Sasuke ducked under the punch, and as it sailed past he lunched himself upwards in a rising upper cut. Rock Lee leaned back and let the punch fly past.

Lee countered the uppercut with a sweeping kick. Sasuke jumped over it and lashed out with his foot. Once again Lee easily side stepped the kick and tried to catch Sasuke with a left hook.

It went back and forth like that, with neither one landing a blow for several minutes.

"W-Wow…" Hinata said, "Lee's really fast."

"Yeah, Sasuke is going to have to be tricky to win this one."

Sasuke thought he saw an opening quickly whipped one of his weighted ninja wire at Lee, catching him in the arm. 'Ha!' thought Sasuke as he pulled on the wire.

But nothing happened. Sasuke wasn't able to make Rock Lee budge an inch.

"My turn." Lee yanked on the wire and sent Sasuke flying towards him.

Sasuke's mental 'Oh crap,' barely had time to register before Lee head-butted him out of the air. Dazed Sasuke managed a quick counter with his right fist, but he hit nothing but air, Lee seemed to have disappeared.

Sasuke managed to look down in time to see Lee's rising kick hit him in the face with all the Sharingan's slow motion glory. 'This is gonna suck…' Sasuke thought as he tried to lean out of the way of the kick.

He was too late and the kick caught him full on the chin and launched him straight up into the air. He managed to look behind him, while sailing towards the ceiling, and somehow Rock Lee had positioned himself directly behind Sasuke. The strange boy had even positioned his arms and legs the same as Sasuke. The one difference was that the bandage on Lee's right arm had come undone, and was stuck to the wall with…a pinwheel?

"That's enough Lee." A voice rang out from one of the hallways. "I told you that that technique is only to protect that which is precious to you."

Lee landed looking ashamed, "Yes Sensei."

Moments later Sasuke landed, hard and on his shoulder. He rolled onto his back and lay there in a daze.

"You've wasted enough time." The voice continued and a giant turtle walked into the room.

'His sensei is a turtle?' the thought entered Team Sevens heads simultaneously.

"Come," the voice continued, and the strangest man team seven had seen appeared in a puff of smoke on the turtle's back. He looked almost exactly like Lee, the same bushy eyebrows, the same shiny bowl haircut, the same green Spandex Jumpsuit. Only this man was almost twice as tall and didn't have bandages around his forearms in addition to his Konoha flak jacket. "You must be inside the examination hall when the test begins."

Lee followed his sensei out of the hallway with his head hung in shame. "Hey! Bushy Brows!" Sasuke called from the floor where he still lay. "Good fight! Thanks."

"What?" Lee looked confused. "I just beat you! Why are you thanking me? You are a genius, they say. Should not you be upset that I can beat you?"

Sasuke rose, shakily, to his feet. With a shrug he said, "I'm used to losing to non prodigies. Besides I'm not my team's Taijutsu expert."

"You are not?" Lee's giant eyebrows wrinkled together, "Then why did you fight like that?"

"I'm the team Ninjutsu expert and my elemental nature is Fire."

"So?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to face palm, "We're in a wooden building, genius."

Looking mildly embarrassed Lee turned to follow his sensei. .

"One more thing. Thanks for holding back."

Lee's already large eyes grew wider, "H-How did you know?"

"You're too heavy," Sasuke pointed to his red eyes, "And I could clearly see you pulling all of your punches."

Team Seven followed Lee and his Sensei down the hall to the examination room. It was set up like a class room with a blackboard on one side, and the rows of desks on the other, in the middle was a large empty space, where everyone milled about waiting for the exam to start.

"Well," Naruto said looking around at mass of people, "I guess this is the beginning."

**A/N buffering is almost done, I've written up to chapter 38. I might be able to start posting Wednesdays /Fridays next week. (and if Minato's 'gift' is what I think it is I'm going to have to get a plane ticket to Japan so I can kick Kishimoto for all the idea theft he's been doing…)**


	35. XXXIV: Wings

**A/N: Sorry, Busy week at work, didn't have time to post this Wednesday. Next week I promise. I'm not sure how you will like the changes to the Canon backstory I've introduced in this chapter. When I started the story I didn't intend to make it that AU, but recent revelations in the Manga coupled with a few (in my own admittedly biased opinion) really good ideas have pushed my story firmly into an alternate Univerese. I will be putting an AU disclaimer in the first chapter, and I apologize to any who stop reading because of it.**

**XXXIV: Wings**

_**Konoha: One Month, Nine Days Ago:**_

As soon as Team Seven entered the examination hall a blonde haired missile streaked across the room. "SASUKE-KUN!" The girl launched herself on Sasuke. "YOU'RE LATE!" she shouted in Sasuke's ear while rubbing her face against his.

"Please get off Ino."

"But I haven't seen you in ages." Ino pouted.

"I can't believe they let you enter." Her voice was so cold that it took Naruto a moment to realize Sakura had entered the room behind them. "I guess they had to so Sasuke could compete."

Sakura shoved Ino off of Sasuke on her way past. "And you keep your hands to yourself piggy."

"What did you say forehead?" Ino shouted after Sakura. "Come back here and say that to my face!" She chased after the pink haired girl shouting obscenities.

"Oh they made you take this stupid test too?" Shikamaru and Chouji had followed Ino across the room, "Don't die."

"Hey Shikamaru! I didn't realize you were taking the test."

"I didn't want to it's too troublesome, but our sensei made us."

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba and Shino entered the room. "Sorry about Sakura, the past couple of months have been hard on her."

"Indeed."

"So how do you think you'll do on the test Naruto?" Shikamaru asked once they were seated in a ring on the floor.

"We'll ace it, it can't be as hard as the last couple of missions." Naruto boasted loudly.

"Hey Naruto, I'd keep it down if I were you." A grey haired, bespectacled teenager said as he sat down next to them. "Thanks for the fruit basket by the way it was delicious."

"What do you mean Kabuto?"

They grey haired medic gestured around the room, "The test is hard, this is the second try for more than half of the people here."

"Oh…is this your second try too?"

"Seventh actually, this is my Fourth year."

"Wow…Either you suck or it's really hard…"

"Naruto! He saved you life!" Hinata scolded.

"Well he's kind of right…" Kabuto admitted sheepishly, "The first two parts of the test change each year but the third is always the same…and well…I can't do it…every year I drop out at the end." He looked away sadly.

"I'm sorry Kabuto."

"Don't worry about it. Tell you what I'll show you guys something cool." Kabuto pulled a stack of cards out of his pocket. "These are my ninja info cards." He shuffled the cards and pulled one out. "Normally they're blank but when I put some of my chakra into it…" A map of the Elemental Nations appeared, "This card shows how many people are taking the test and where they're from."

"That's so cool." Naruto said, "The seals for those things must be pretty complex."

Kabuto blushed, "Fuinjutsu isn't my specialty, but they're pretty impressive if I do say so myself."

"The map's nice and all," Sasuke interrupted, "But do you have information on individuals?"

"Of course is there anyone in particular you have in mind?"

"I do." A cold voice interrupted Kabuto, behind him stood Gaara, his cold features locked into a frown. "Him." He pointed at Naruto.

"Well…His name is Uzumaki Naruto." Kabuto shuffled his cards again and drew another from the deck, "Let's see," He channeled chakra into the card, "Above average stats in Taijutsu, Ninjustu and Fuinjutsu, No skill whatsoever in Genjutsu, and he has a tendency to end up in the hospital."

"Hey!"

"It's true Fishcake, don't complain."

"As for missions," Kabuto continued without missing a beat, "Thirty-one D-ranks, one C-rank, _Three B-ranks_...And….That can't be right! Four A-ranks and two S-ranks?" He shouted in confusion. "There must be something wrong with my seals…"

"Actually…"

"Wait a minute, Naruto." Sasuke interrupted Naruto "Aren't S-rank missions classified?" He glared at Kabuto suspiciously, "How do your cards know all this?"

"A-Ranks and up are classified sure," Kabuto said, "but the number of missions and the rank are publicly available information." Kabuto shrugged, "as for the rest of the information on the cards, it's a lot of detective work and observation mostly. I don't have information on everyone here, but what I do have is pretty accurate."

"So it's public information that we completed two S-ranks?"

"You mean to tell me that you actually did that?"

"I've heard enough." Gaara turned and left without another word.

"I don't know about the S-ranks," A new person joined the conversation, their voice deep and gravely, "But I can sure as hell attest to two of those A-ranks." Momochi Zabuza flopped down next to the genin. "Those were against me."

"Are you a p-proctor now?" Hinata asked nervously.

"No. I'm here to take the test same as you."

"Wh-What?" Hinata stuttered.

"Are you kidding me!" Naruto shouted.

"Figures." Sasuke just sighed.

"I was still a missing-nin when I came here." Zabuza explained, "I didn't belong to any village and that makes me dangerous. So the Hokage offered to let me join the village, and part of the process is taking the chunin exams."

"So…If you're taking the test, where's the rest of your team?"

"Right here Naruto-kun!" Haku and Fu walked over to the circle of Genin and sat down.

"Well…" Sasuke said, "I guess that answers that question."

"Which question Sasuke?" Haku asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why are you taking the test Fu? You don't plan on defecting too?"

"My cousin Shibuki applied for dual citizenship for me."

Suddenly there was a high pitched scream and Tenten ran up to the group, "That's Kubikiribocho isn't it?" There was a wild look in her eyes and she edged closer to Zabuza.

"Yes it is why?"

"C-C-Can I touch it?"

"Um…why?" Zabuza was clearly creeped out by the girl's attitude.

"It's one of the Seven Swords of the Mist! Why wouldn't I want to hold it!"

Zabuza shrugged and handed her the weapon, "Just don't try to steal it I don't want to have to hurt you."

"What's the big deal?" Naruto asked. "It's just a boring slab of iron! It doesn't do anything cool."

"Actually Naruto, The blade is capable of re…" Zabuza clapped a hand over Tenten's mouth before she could finish speaking.

"I don't want to know how you know that, but keep it a secret or else." Tenten nodded weakly behind Zabuza's hand.

"It doesn't matter what it can do I doubt it's cooler than my weapon!"

"An oversized staff sword isn't cool, Naruto." Tenten glared at him, "Not compared to one of the Seven Swords."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "Does this look like just an oversized staff sword to you?" He clapped his hands together and summoned Uzu no Tsubasa.

When Tenten saw the weapon she made a strange low moan and passed out.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT!" Zabuza shouted and leapt away from Naruto.

"I know it's cool, but what's with the reaction?"

"You don't even know what that is?" Zabuza asked in surprise, "That's one of the most famous weapons in the world!"

"I just found it in the Scroll of Seals during a mission; the note said it belonged to the Uzumaki so I took it."

"That's all you know?" when Naruto just nodded Zabuza palmed his face in both hands before continuing, "Well, It's a long story, and I'm not sure how much of it is true.

"It begins two and a half thousand years ago with the defeat of the Juubi by the Rikudo Sennin, and the creation of chakra as we know it.

"The sage possessed many tools to help him shape and focus chakra. But his most treasured possession was his shakujo, his sounding staff. It was said to have phenomenal power, but in truth it was nothing more than a length of simple wood and six rings of metal.

"The Sage traveled for many years, spreading the gift of chakra and the knowledge of how to use it.

"Now the Sage had two sons, the oldest inherited the Sage's soul and believed Strength was the key to peace, while the youngest, who inherited the Sage's body, believed Love was the key to peace.

"The sage returned from his journeys an old man. On his death bed He charged his youngest son to continue his work and insure that the world remained peaceful. The eldest son was charged with the protection of his younger sibling, because the sage knew that some did not desire peace.

"When the Sage died, the brothers divided his possessions amongst themselves; each took what they felt necessary to accomplish the task their father had left him. In this they had no quarrel; for they understood their father's tools and the tasks they were most suited too.

"But they couldn't agree on who would get the Rikudo Sennin's staff. For each brother saw it differently, even though they knew the truth, that it was but a staff that any monk would carry.

"The youngest saw it as a symbol of his father's love, for the rings would chime each time the staff struck the ground and the noise would warn small animals of his approach.

"The eldest saw the staff as a symbol of his father's might. Despite his desire for peace the Rikudo Sennin was famed for his skill with staff and sword.

"The siblings fought long and hard over who should carry the Staff. In the end they agreed to share it, one would have it for one year and the other would the next.

"For a time things were peaceful, the sons married and founded their own clans. The eldest became the first Uchiha and his clan became a tribe of mighty warriors. The youngest was the first Senju, and became a tribe of monks, teachers and scholars, renowned for their wisdom and patience.

"Time passed, the sage's sons died, their children died and so did their children's children before the peace was broken. The Senju and Uchiha had grown in size until they were the largest clans in all the world, but the leaders were not satisfied with the way things were.

"Having to share the staff galled them, each believed that their clan was the only one worthy of bearing the Rikudo Sennin's mighty staff.

"Two Hundred years later, in the time of the fourth clan head the Son of the Senju and the Daughter of the Uchiha clan heads fell in love.

"When their parents found out, they were ordered to assassinate their lover.

"Instead of carrying out their parents orders they ran away together. The Son of the Senju stole The Book of Seals, a mighty tome of Fuinjutsu written by the Rikudo Sennin himself.

"The Daughter stole the staff, for it had been the Year of the Uchiha and the staff was kept in the Uchiha shrine.

"Together they ran east, towards the coast, traveling by night, and sleeping in shifts, trying desperately to avoid their pursuers.

"When, at last, they came to the coast they fashioned a raft from a fallen tree, and set sail in hopes the water would make it difficult to track them. Scant hours into their voyage a terrible storm hit, it lashed the coast for seven days and seven nights. Desperately they clung to the raft and each other, lest they be washed away.

"On the dawn of the eighth the storm broke and they found themselves in the middles of a group of islands. After they made land fall on the largest of the islands the Son of the Senju took the knowledge contain in the tome he stole and crafted mighty whirlpools around the islands to protect them from harm, leaving only a narrow and treacherous path through the maelstroms.

"During their travels the Daughter of the Uchiha had divined many secrets about the staff. After Years of constant use by the Rikudo Sennin and his descendants the wooden shaft had transformed.

"No longer was it a simple length of wood, instead it had become a living thing. The staff fed on chakra, using it to reinforce and repair itself. In addition the wood had gained the ability to store vast amounts of chakra.

"The metal rings had changed as well. Chakra flowed through it as easily as it flowed through flesh. And each ring was attuned to a different element, Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Yin Yang.

"The rock of the collapsed cliff face they had made their shelter was full of Iron, gold, and silver. While her husband labored over the Whirlpools she smelted the ore down to iron, and cast the metal rings along with the head and the heel of the staff, into the molten metal. With her new alloy she forged two simple blades for the staff.

"After many days the whirlpools and the blade were completed. When the Son of the Senju returned from the outer islands he found his wife waiting for him, in his absence she built a small stone hovel to shelter them along with a forge to allow them to build the tools they need to survive.

"When he saw the blade she had forged for him he was awed by its beauty, the long smooth wooden handle, the unblemished blades, the weight and the balance, it was perfect.

"When she gave it to him, he inscribed intricate seals into the blades, giving the weapon strange and marvelous powers.

"When the blade was at last complete, they began building their home in earnest.

"For a time everything was perfect, but after a year on the islands The Daughter of the Uchiha fell sick.

"The Son of the Senju set sail for the mainland in hope of finding medicine his wife needed.

"He was lucky, the coast was little more than a day's voyage away, and a small fishing village sat almost directly opposite the Islands He called home.

"The village had the medicine he needed but, he had no money, so they refused to sell it to him. After much debate they agreed to trade him the medicine for a storage seal, which was something they had never seen before.

"More time passed, whenever they needed something they couldn't find or make themselves He would sail to the fishing village and sell the storage scrolls he made, or the knives, swords kunai and Shuriken, that his wife made.

"Some time after the birth of their first son, word reached the ears of the Senju and Uchiha clan heads, of a village on the coast that produced the best storage seals and the most beautiful weaponry.

"Each clan sent a party under the guise of purchasing weapons, but they intended to kidnap the ones who made the weapons so they could keep them for themselves.

"When the two groups met they attacked each other instantly, for each clan still blamed the other for the disappearance of the clan heirs, and the loss of the Staff.

"Fortunately for the villagers, who were caught in the cross fire, it was the day when the Son of the Senju and the Daughter of the Uchiha, Who now called themselves the Uzumaki, arrived to trade their goods.

"When She saw her family attacking her friends in the village she flew into a blood rage, drew her sword and attacked both sides with such ferocity that by the time He arrived at the scene of the battle only She remained standing, the rest were either dead or had fled.

"Fearing for the safety of Their friends in the village, The couple invited the village to join Them on Their island.

"When the survivors of the battle returned to their clans with news that the Daughter of the Uchiha was hiding in a fishing village on the coast, both clans sent a war party to capture Her and rescue the staff.

"But when the clans arrived, all they found was a burned out wreck, for the villagers had set fire to the buildings and the docks when they left.

"Enraged by the escape of the thieves, The Senju and the Uchiha temporarily set aside their growing differences to renew their hunt.

"While their old families fruitlessly searched for them, The Uzumaki, with the help of the villagers turned their Island Home into a fortress.

"Word eventually spread of a hidden country, were people, tired of the wars that plagued the Elemental Nations, could go to live in peace.

"But nothing can remain hidden forever, and the Senju and the Uchiha eventually found the island nation.

"Figuring it to be the hiding place of their former children, the Staff, and the village they had spent years searching for they launched assault after assault on the budding nation.

"Each time they were repulsed by the whirling tides, for only the Uzumaki knew how to deactivate the seals that kept the maelstrom going, and only the villagers knew how to navigate the treacherous water way that led into the village.

"It was after the birth of their third son that their former clans managed to figure out the way through the tides.

"They snuck into the village in the dead of night, and began torching homes in an attempt to draw out the First of the Uzumaki.

"The couple fought back, but they were badly outnumbered, and when they finally managed to push their attackers back, the former Daughter of the Uchiha had sustained terrible wounds. Without her husband's Senju resilience, she died before the sun rose.

"So great was the First of the Uzumaki's fury and sorrow, that his scream of anguish could be heard across the sea, where his former family prepared another larger assault.

"The First cut his wife's blood stained armor into strips and bound the haft of his blade with it.

"When the second assault landed they were met by the First of the Uzumaki in all his fury. He fought with no regard for his own survival, and unleashed the full power of his blade.

"He seemed to change shape, one moment he was a green dragon roaring his defiance at his enemies. The next moment he was an angelic figure clad in white, raining lightning bolts from the sky. Then he was a red Oni, clad in flames, roasting the invaders with gouts of white hot flames. Afterwards his skin cooled from flame red to ocean blue and he fought with blasts of water. Then he became a stone samurai and crushed his foes with his giant stone sword.

"He fought long past the point of chakra exhaustion, took countless wounds that would have felled lesser men. He pushed himself so hard that when the fight was over and the clans defeated, the First of the Uzumaki had aged one hundred years in the course of a day.

"He managed to drag himself to his dead wife's side, before crumbling into dust. The two of them were buried together, and the Staff was passed down to their oldest son.

There was a moments silence when Zabuza finished telling his story.

"I didn't really understand the whole thing," three older Genin wearing Kirigakure Hitai-ate had been listening in, "But that thing," The leader of the trio pointed to the Uzu no Tsubasa, "Is really powerful and probably worth a fortune, right?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Zabuza warned the boy as he reached for the staff.

"Be careful you traitorous bastard, keep talking to me like that and I'll take your sword too."

"Yeah you can't be that tough if you're taking this test." One of the Kirin Nins chimed in.

"Gimme that." The leader snatched the staff away from Naruto. Almost instantly the boy collapsed screaming in agony, before anyone had the chance to react his body crumbled into dust.

"Kiri Team Three, Disqualified." A group of ninja, all wearing the same high collared grey uniform, lead by a large man who wore a leather trench-coat and his Hitai-Ate on a bandana, entered the room in a swirl of leaves. "You have less than the required three participants. See you next year."

"HE KILLED HIM!" One of the Kiri ninjas shouted and pointed at Naruto.

"No." The large man said, "That," He pointed to the Uzu no Tsubasa, "and his own greed killed him. That weapon is a SSS-rank forbidden item. That means it was considered too dangerous to even touch. It was sealed by the previous Uzumaki clan heir, before the fall of Uzu no Kuni."

The man ignored the complaints of the two remaining members of the team as they were bodily dragged out of the examination hall. "I am Morino Ibuki and I am the proctor for the first exam." The large man said, "We will now start the first stage of the Chunin Exams. Instead of your current seating arrangements you will form a single file line and take a tile from this box and sit in the seat indicated. Once you are seated we will hand out the exams."

There was a moment of silence before Naruto moaned, "A written test? I hate written tests."

"Do not turn over your test until I give the signal." Morino Ibuki said while the shinobi who entered the room with him began handing out the test. "There are three rules you need to know before we begin." He picked a piece of chalk and began writing on the board, "First, everyone starts with ten points there are ten questions and an incorrect answer means you lose one point.

"Second, the scores are team based, to pass you need a total of twenty points," He paused to let the teams groan, "_But_ for a team to pass every member needs at least one point. If any one on your team gets a zero you all fail." He paused again to let the teams glare at their dumbest member before continuing.

"The third and final rule, anyone caught cheating loses two points for every infraction. If you lose all your points, your whole team will be disqualified."

Once the tests were all handed out Ibuki said, "You have one hour. Begin!"

_**Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:**_

"Is that story true?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya. "I've never heard anything like it before."

"I heard something similar from Kushina." Jiraiya replied, "She was the one to have the staff sealed you know."

"I always thought the Uchiha and the Senju hated each other because the sage chose the Senju to carry out his legacy." Shizune said.

"I always thought it was a stupid reason to fight." Tsunade said. "But over a staff? That's even worse."

"Ah, but it wasn't just any staff, Hime." Jiraiay said, "It was the symbol of the Rikudo Sennin's authority and love. In a way they _were_ fighting over who should be the one to carry out the sage's will."

**A/N : My brother SorifTheHunter, (He's actually directly responsible for Sage of the Seventh Path, he dared me to write a story so I did. He writes an oc heavy Young justice fic and has started a similar harry potter fic, I can't tell you whether it's any good or not because I haven't read it [oc's and young justice don't interest me], but his harry potter one shot was kind of funny) paid me $1.50 to say this:**

**Yo, Dawg I heard you like stories, so I put a story in your story (in your story) So you can read while you read (while you read)**

**What? It was that or make a crack about "Storyception…"**

**Don't Judge me.**

**Xahn777**


	36. XXXV: First Exam

**XXXV: First Exam**

_**Konoha One month, Nine Days Ago:**_

Outwardly Naruto was calmly taking the test, but inside he was panicking. He had never been any good at written tests, but his experience with Mizuki during is last year at the academy destroyed whatever confidence he had left when it came to paper tests. And besides, this test was hard, crypotgrams complex mathematic equations, and bizarre political scenarios were the focus of the exam.

Sasuke and Hinata however had already figured out the trick to the test. With his Sharingan he copied the movements of the person to the front of him, within moments he had his whole test filled out. It took Hinata a little longer to find someone who had the answers but when she did se copied them down after focusing through him with her Byakugan.

Fifteen minutes into the test Naruto was seconds away from a complete meltdown, when he noticed a strange repeating pulse of chakra. Several rows in front of him to his right and his left Sasuke and Hinata sat with their heads down, having already completed their tests. Sasuke and Hinata were repeatedly activating and deactivating their eyes.

The pulses were faint, but they were enough to get his attention. Looking around to try and see what his teammates were trying to tell him Naruto noticed something strange, His teammates weren't the only ones using chakra. Almost everyone was to some degree.

'They're all cheating!' Naruto thought, 'And only a few have been caught…Maybe the point is to see who can gather information?'

Naruto sighed and banged his head on his desk, 'If I'd have known that id have a clone henged into a mouse or something…'

Naruto reviewed his options, 'There's no way I could get away with making a clone in a room with this many people… And unsealing my tools from my scroll will alert them with a puff of smoke….

'We're screwed…' Naruto thought with a whimper. Naruto looked down at the last question, 'the question will be revealed forty five minutes into the exam,' He reread. 'I hope it's something I can answer or the Hokage's gonna kill me….'

"All right, pencils down." Ibuki's voice broke the silence. "It's time for the last question."

"What?" Someone shouted, "You said we'd have an hour!"

"The last fifteen minutes of the test are dedicated to the final question."

"That's not fair!"

"Not my problem." Ibuki said with a shrug, "Before I give you the final question I need to tell you the rules for it.

"First, you have a choice whether you take it or not. If you refuse to answer the question you fail, your team fails and you can try again next year. But, if you decide to take it and get it wrong, you fail, your team fails and you cannot take the chunin exams ever again.

"You can't do that! I've taken these exams before!" A ninja from Kumo shouted.

"Ah, but I'm the proctor for this test I set the rules. If I say you fail and can't re-try later then you fail and can't retry later."

"Screw this I'm out of here, I'll take the test with a sane proctor." The Kumo-nin shouted and stomped out of the room, his teammates glowering at him as they followed him out of the room.

After a few more teams shuffled out of the door, Ibiki continued, "This is your last chance anyone still in the room when I start the question has to take it. If you don't feel up to it you can go."

When over half the room stood up to leave Naruto shouted, "Do you think I'm afraid of your little mind games?"

Everyone turned to look at him, "Mind games?" Ibiki asked.

"You can't just say 'Oh, I don't feel like it' on a real mission, sometimes things go wrong and your only choice is to fight or die."

"Damn straight." Zabuza said.

"If you leave this room you, you're saying that you don't have what it takes to be a Ninja, let alone a Chunin!" Naruto thumped his fist against his desk, "Talk all you want scarface, I'm not going anywhere."

Three quarters of the Genin who had stood up to leave sat back down with expression of stone-faced defiance. Of the quarter that didn't sit down immediately, half returned to their seats with at the urging of their teammates. The other half Shook their heads and walked out, preferring to take their chances next year.

"Is that how you all feel?" Ibuki asked with a raised eyebrow. "Determined to answer the question even if it means you'll be genin forever?" He was met with stony nods and nervous gulps from the assembled Genin, "Well then," He clapped his hands together cheerfully, "Congratulations you all pa…"

Before he could finish the word 'pass' the window shattered, showering the room with shards of glass, A black object sailed through the now open window. There was a series thuds and the object was unfurled and nailed to the ceiling and floor by four kunai, Revealing the figure of Mitarashi Anko and a massive black banner that said "Exam Proctor Two: Mitarashi Anko"

"You're early Mitarashi…" The slightly muffled voice of Ibuki said from behind the banner. "I hadn't even got to tell them they passed."

"All of them?" Anko asked as she did a quick headcount, "Seventy eight people? That's twenty six teams!" Anko sighed dramatically, "You're getting soft in your old age Ibiki."

"It's a special batch this year." Ibiki said with a shrug, "There's some real potential in this batch of genin."

"Well, don't worry!" Anko said with a malicious grin, "I'll cut their numbers in half for you!"

She rubbed her hands together, "Follow me to training ground Forty Four! Last one there's a rotten Egg!" With an evil cackle she leapt out of the window.

"No fair you evil snake lady!" Naruto shouted and leapt out the window after her.

Once the last genin left Ibuki sat down at a desk and started grading the stack of exams left behind in their rush to get to the next exam. While the scores didn't actually matter when it came to passing the first test, they would help the judges decided which genin to promote.

After half an hour he came upon a blank test. 'Must have been a spare,' He thought, but before he could crumple it up and throw it away he noticed a name written across the top in the careful hand-writing of a Fuinjutsu user rather attached to his fingertips.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Ibiki read the name out loud with a laugh. "You passed on a blank test and convinced 12 teams to stay… You're something else alright."

Meanwhile, The last team arrived at training ground Forty Four. It was a forest dark and foreboding surrounded by high chain-link fences, topped with barbed wire.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Forest of Death!" Anko welcomed the teams cheerily. "The next part of the exam will take place inside the forest. But first I need you to sign a few forms," She held up a thick stack of paper, "Absolving Konoha in general, and me in particular, of any culpability regarding any injuries you sustain in the forest, up to and including death."

When she was met with nothing but nervous gulps and, in Naruto's case an angry glare, she sighed, "What? No outbursts? No declarations of strength? No boasting?" She sighed again, "Those are my favorite part of this test."

"Get on with it, cheater." Naruto was feeling a little sore over her beating him to the training grounds.

With a glare at Naruto she pointed to a tent to her left, "Get your forms there fill them out and hand them in at that tent there," she pointed to the one on her right. "Once everyone has filled out and handed in their forms we can begin."

It took half an hour for everyone to fill out their forms. As soon as the last team handed theirs in Anko rubbed her hands together excitedly, "All right the test is simple!" She held up two scrolls one white, the other brown.

"Each team will be given one of these scrolls. This," She held the white scroll higher, "Is a scroll of heaven. And this," She held up the brown one, "Is a scroll of earth. You have five days to acquire the other scroll from an opponent's team and make it to the tower in the center of the forest, with both scrolls and all of your teammates."

"F-five days?" Choji moaned, "what about lunch, or dinner, or breakfast, or lunch or…"

Ino smacked him in the back of the head. "Stop thinking with your stomach!" She hissed.

"Don't worry there's plenty to eat in the forest, as long as you stay away from the carnivorous plants, the poisonous mushrooms and the mutant giant honey badgers." Anko informed them cheerfully.

"Oh, before I forget, whatever you do don't open the scrolls until you're inside the tower. Tamper with your scroll and your entire team will be immediately and irrevocably…disqualified… from the exam."

"All right. Get your scroll at that tent there," she pointed to a tent that had all of its flaps down, preventing anyone from seeing inside. "Take a number from the box near the door and head to the gate with the corresponding number over it."

Team Seven got a scroll of Heaven and the number Forty two. "So," Naruto said while they waited for the signal to enter, "This is what she meant when she said she'd cut the numbers in half."

"Less than 13 teams will pass." Sasuke noted, "There's going to be teams who take more scrolls than they need."

"Wh-what's the p-plan?"

"We grab an earth scroll as fast as we can and run to the tower." Naruto said, "The less time we spend in the forest the better."

"Agreed."

"A-Agreed."

"It's time to begin," Anko shouted, so all the teams could hear her, "on my signal the gates will open and you with have exactly five days to finish. Five, Four Three!" She began to count down, "Two, One. Go!"

The Gates clattered open and the second exam began.

_**Location: Unknown, Date: Unknown.**_

_"__**Do you see what your actions have caused?"**__ A deep voice rumbled._

"You!" The man shouted, "How did you escape?" He struggled against his chains.

"**A better question would be, 'How did you get in?' After all **_**I**_** have been here this whole time."**

Twisting his body around the man managed to catch a glimpse of his adversary. The great beast sat in a too small cage. The bars were rusted, and large chunks were missing altogether. "My security measures should have prevented this much damage! What did you do?"

"**Me? I've done nothing."** The beast shifted position and the man caught a better glimpse of it, it seemed to be cradling something in its giant limbs, protecting it from the rising water and the man's eyes. **"Well, that's not entirely true; I have certainly done more than you. All this destruction you see,"** The beast gestured with its head, and the man caught a glimpse of something that surprised him more than waking up here, driven through the beast's neck were three giant transparent silver chains, two seemed solid, almost opaque, but the third shimmered as if it wasn't really there, **"All of it, is the result of the choice you made that night."**


	37. XXXVI: The Second Exam Part I

**A/N: I forgot to say this last chapter, but: "OMG! Tobito's a hollow! Someone get Ichigo!"**

**With that bit of comedy gold out of the way (Sarcasm) onto the real announcement: Buffering is done Yay! From now on the story will update Wednesdays and Saturdays.**

**XXXVI: The Second Exam Part I**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death, One Month Nine Days Ago:**_

At Anko's signal the gates clattered open and Team Seven dashed through the gate, With Hinata taking point and Naruto and Sasuke flanking her a few steps behind.

"Find us a good target, Hinata-chan." Naruto said as they sped across the tree branches.

"Maybe we should find a spot near the tower and set up an ambush?" Sasuke suggested. "It would be easier to catch a team with some of your traps."

"Good point." Naruto agreed, "But I'd rather just hit a team that has an Earth scroll and run." He shuddered, "I hate this place."

"See anyone yet?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata shook her head, "The t-two teams c-closest to us had a Heaven Scroll. We n-need to go further."

Hinata led them across the tree branches with precise jumps that barely seemed to disturb a single leaf. Sasuke and Naruto were actually having trouble keeping up.

"When did you get so fast?" Naruto panted

"Slow down, we're making too much noise trying to keep up with you."

"S-sorry, I didn't realize how fast I was going. Anko's training really helped."

"Well, she is the proctor for this part of the exam." Naruto observed, "She must have known it would really help."

"I g-guess…" Hinata said before they resumed their run through the branches.

After half an hour Hinata broke the silence, "Th-There!" She pointed through the underbrush, "Those Ame-nin have an earth sc-scroll!"

"Nice catch Hinata-chan!" Naruto whispered, "Which one as it?"

"The one with the spiky black hair." Hinata answered, "It's in his left pocket

"You ready?"

"Hn."

"N-No…"

"Eh? Why not Hinata-chan?"

"I-I w-want t-to try b-by myself…j-just make sure he doesn't escape okay?"

Naruto shrugged, "Sure Hinata-chan, if that's what you want, me and Sasuke can sit this one out, right?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke go around stop them from escaping in that direction, I've got this side. Hinata Grab the scroll and run in that direction me and Sasuke will catch up with you. Okay are we read now?"

"Y-Yes."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted before circling around the Ame team. When Sasuke was in position on the other side Naruto whispered on my mark, Three…two…one…go!"

Hinata leapt from the tree branch and landed in the middle of the Ame team. Her sudden arrival startled them, and Hinata took advantage of the opening. She swept the legs out from under two of them and knocked the other over with a blow to the chest. As soon as the scroll carrier hit the ground Hinata snatched the scroll from his pocket and took off at a dead sprint.

"Wow…That was fast Hinata-chan!" Naruto praised her when he and Sasuke caught up with her.

"You didn't even have to kill them." Sasuke said, "Impressive."

"Th-thanks Sasuke, Naruto-kun."

"If we hurry we can make it the rest of the way to the tower in half an hour.'

"Do you think completing this in an hour is some kind of record?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably, let's hurry then."

They had been running for fifteen minutes, when the attack happened. Something incredibly fast moving sped toward them, from the edge of Hinata's vision.

"Look out! Ambush!" Hinata barely had time to shout, before a giant snake appeared out of nowhere and crashed into Naruto knocking him into the woods and away from his teammates

"Now now, Sasuke-kun," The voice was soft, almost feminine, "I had to really run to catch up with you." An androgynous Ninja with long black hair and pale skin, wearing the uniform of a Kusa-nin, stepped out of the shadows ahead of them. "I absolutely _hate_ running."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The Kusa-nin licked his lips, "Why I only wanted to give you a little present." His tongue was too long and entirely the wrong color. "Won't you come here?"

Sasuke drew his Chokutō, "Sorry, But you're not my type."

"Oooh, playing hard to get?" The Kusa-nin giggled, "I _like_ that."

"Let's see how you like this!" Naruto shouted as he came barreling out of the undergrowth, covered in mud and slime from his fight with the snake. "RASENGAN!" He slammed the spinning ball of chakra into the strange ninja's face.

The force of the blow launched the Kusa-nin into a tree and sent chunks of his face flying off. "Why would you do that?" Gone were the soft lines of the ninja's face, instead, where Naruto's Rasengan had struck the foreign ninja where sharp and distinctively male cheekbones around a golden snakelike eye. "I liked that face. It was ever so pretty."

"Who _are_ you?" Naruto asked in disgust, "Or what are you?"

"Oh, that's not nice," the ninja said as he peeled the scraps of his old face off. "How would you like it if I called _your_ humanity into question _Namikaze_ Uzumaki Naruto?"

"What did he call you Naruto?" Sasuke wasn't sure he heard the strange ninja correctly.

"It doesn't matter." Naruto said, "You still haven't answered me, you creep. Who are you? And how do you my name?"

The strange Ninja giggled again, "My name is Orochimaru." A wicked grin spread over his snake like features, "Perhaps you've heard of me?"

'OhCrapOhCrapOhCrap.' Team Seven thought in unison

"Now," Orochimaru said sweetly, "Won't you come here so I can give you your gift Sasuke-Kun?"

"Go to hell you snake faced bastard!"

"Naruto, pissing off a Sannin is a _bad_ idea!" Sasuke hissed.

"If you're not going to come over here…." Orochimaru said, his tone growing menacing, "I'll have to…force…you to take it."

Sasuke raised his sword, "Bring it." He growled.

"I th-thought you d-didn't want to piss of the creepy p-pedophile Sasuke?" Hinata stammered.

"Eh, it'll be more fun this way."

"Ah well," Orochimaru sighed dramatically, "So much for diplomacy." He took a deep breath and blew a seal-less Futon: Daitoppa that was almost three times as strong as Naruto's.

Team seven dodged out of its path. Hinata charged the Snake Sannin, intending to lock him down for her teammates. Sasuke and Naruto arced around her, their hands flowing through the seals for their jutsu.

Orochimaru easily dodged Hinata's first three attacks, and countered with a spinning kick that sent her crashing into a tree. Then he side stepped Sasuke and Naruto's over large fireball.

"Isn't this _fun_?"Orochimaru said, before pushing his sleeve up and revealing a strange tattoo, "Now it's _my_ turn!" He bit his thumb and smeared a streak of blood along the tattoo, summoning seven giant snakes to the fight.

Two of the snakes attacked Sasuke, two attacked Naruto, and two went for Hinata who was still dazed from Orochimaru's vicious kick. The seventh, and largest, stayed back, with Orochimaru standing on its head.

Sasuke channeled his lightning chakra along the length of his blade, like he had seen Kakashi do in the Land of Sea. Despite the snakes' thick scales they were no match for Sasuke.

Naruto, however, was fighting four snakes at once trying to buy Hinata time to catch her breath.

"I-I think he b-broke m-my ribs…" She panted, before binding two of the snakes with her Suiton: Suiben. The combination of her broken ribs and the snakes' thick scales meant her Juken strikes were useless against the summons

"Now we can't have that." Orochimaru frowned, "Everyone should be allowed to play." He ordered the snake he was on forward. Mouth open wide the snake lunged at Naruto and Hinata.

Just before the snake could close its jaws on them Naruto summoned the Uzu no Tsubasa and held it vertically. When the snake tried to close its mouth on them the blade pierced the Snake's skull, killing it instantly.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in anger when the snake died with a shudder, "That's a dangerous toy you have there." He opened his mouth and a white snake emerged from his throat.

"That's so gross…" Naruto observed when the snake spat a sword out.

Orochimaru leapt of the dead snake and brought his sword down in an arc. Naruto raised his staff sword and blocked with the shaft of his weapon. Orochimaru's sword bounced off with a ringing sound.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise, before narrowing again. "I do not wish to hurt you boy, but I will if you don't get out of my way so I can give Sasuke his gift." His soft, feminine, voice hissed, like a sword being drawn from its sheath. He swung again, and Naruto staggered under the weight of the blow.

"You want to try?" Naruto growled. His eyes turned a shade of deep purple and his irises bent into vertical slits, while his fingernails lengthened and his whisker marks thickened. "Try this!"

The Kyuubi's chakra allowed him to begin pushing Orochimaru back, "I Won't let you hurt my friends!" He shouted while red chakra began to coalesce into his chakra shroud.

Before his shroud could complete Orochimaru jerked his sword back throwing Naruto off balance. As soon as he broke contact his sword turned into a snake and curled around his wrist.

At the same time Orochimaru performed a series offhand seals faster than Naruto's eyes could perceive. Orochimaru lunged forward, grabbed Naruto's shirt and lifted it with one hand, revealing Naruto's seal. The other hand he slammed into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto let out an ear splitting shriek, it felt like every nerve in his body had been set on fire at once. He staggered back one step then two and crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.

As he fell he seemed to age fifty years his skin became ashen, his hair grayed and his breath started to come in short sharp gasps. "How fascinating," Orochimaru observed.

Hinata stepped between the Sannin and Naruto, and assumed her Juken stance. Sasuke, covered in the gore of the other snakes rushed to her side.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said pleasantly, "Are you ready for your gift then?"

"I want nothing from you."

"You would deny a gift freely given? How terribly rude." Orochimaru feigned sadness, "Alas I must insist that you take it."

When Sasuke raised his chokutō in response, Orochimaru sighed and held out his hand. The snake coiled around his forearm slid into his palm and transformed into his sword.

"Please don't make me hurt you, Sasuke-kun," This time Orochimaru sounded genuinely concerned, "I truly only have your best interests in mind." The snake Sannin pleaded.

Sasuke attacked, first high, then low. Each strike was effortlessly parried by Orochimaru.

A strange almost wistful smile spread across the Sannin's face. "You have so much talent, Sasuke-kun, You remind me of me at your age." With a deft flick of his wrist he disarmed Sasuke. "Unfortunately, playtime is over."

Sasuke pulled half a dozen kunai from his pouch. "I won't go down without a fight, you monster."

"I would expect nothing else from you, but I'm afraid you have no choice Sasuke-kun…" Orochimaru released a blast of killing intent so strong it even made the unconscious Naruto whimper in fright. In the seconds they were unable to move Orochimaru made a single hand seal which caused his neck to lengthen until he resembled snake emerging from its hole.

"And now," he hissed, "it is time for your present." Orochimaru reared back and lashed out, like a snake striking its prey.

Faster than he could blink Orochimaru's head cleared the distance between them and bit Sasuke on the neck. Three large black Tomoe appeared where the Snake Sannin had bit him.

Sasuke managed to whimper in pain before the blackness took him. "Do look after your teammates for me will you?" Orochimaru said to Hinata, who had grimly resumed her fighting stance. "I don't want anything….unfortunate…to happen to them just yet." He patted her on the head, "Be good now." And then he disappeared before she could counter attack him.

Hinata was left with two uncurious and feverish teammates and at least three broken ribs. She did her best to drag her teammates to what shelter a fallen tree could provide 'Now what? She asked herself.

_**Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:**_

Tsunade shuddered, "He did what? I swear every time I hear a new story about Orochimaru he seems less and less human."

"Tell me about it. Sometimes I can't believe I was even friends with that guy, let alone best friends…"

"We were all surprised by his experiments Jiraiya; don't beat yourself up over them."

Jiraiya shook his head, "I should have seen it. I could have stopped him before he went out of control…"

Tsunade laid a comforting hand on Jiraiya's shoulder, "No matter how much we wish for it, we can't change the past."

Jiaaiya sighed, "Yeah I know. And thanks for the words of wisdom Hime."


	38. XXXVII: The Second Exam Part II

**XXXVII: The Second Exam Part II**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death One Month, Nine Days Ago:**_

Hinata sat with her unconscious teammates in the shelter of a fallen tree. It had been more than an hour since Orochimaru's ambush and neither of her teammates showed any sign of improvement.

Sasuke had stabilized half an hour after the attack, but he was still stuck in a feverish nightmare, where he kept calling out for his long dead parents his elder brother, and, strangely perhaps, Naruto.

Naruto's condition, on the other hand, was getting progressively worse. His skin had taken on the complexion of a corpse, his hair had gone completely white and his face was lined and wrinkled like a person in their eighties.

And now, while Hinata did her best to care for her injured teammates and herself, Naruto's condition had taken another turn for the worse. Before, his breath came in short sharp gasps, like someone in excruciating pain, now each breath was a death rattle.

Hinata was terrified that he might stop breathing at any minute, but she had no idea what she could do. In her current condition it would take more than an hour to reach the Tower in the center of the woods, and even if she could find help there, she would have to leave her teammates unattended.

Or she could try to drag them there, but she doubted she could defend both of them out in the open. So she sat watch over them and hoped and prayed that someone would arrive and help her.

"Well, look what we have here." A team of genin had found her hiding spot, "A little trapped mouse." There were three of them two boys, one wrapped in bandages, the other had long spikey hair, and one girl with long black hair and bells on her ears, Each wore an Otogakure Hitai-ate around their foreheads.

"Zaku, stop playing with your food." The bandaged boy said. "Just kill them like the boss said, so we can get out of this place."

"It's no fun if they don't fight back." The spiky haired boy complained, "What's so important that we have to take timeout from the test to kill a team that's half dead three hours into it?"

"Don't know, don't care." The girl said.

"I w-won't let you hurt th-them," Still clutching her side Hinata rose to her feet and blocked The Oto team's path.

"Please, what can half dead mouse do to us?" The spiky haired boy, Zaku, scoffed at her, before trying to push past her. "You're not even worth my time."

Moving as fast as she could, with three broken ribs, Hinata struck Zaku four times on his right side. "ARGH!" the spiky haired Genin groaned in pain, "What the hell did you do?" He turned his left palm towards her and a blast of air knocked her over, "Goddamnit… I can't use my right arm…"

He kicked Hinata, who was struggling to rise to her feet, square in her broken ribs, causing her to collapse with a hiss of pain. But when he tried to walk past her she grabbed his leg with both hands and poured as much chakra as she could.

She stood shakily over Zaku, who was clutching his leg and howling in pain, "I-I s-said I w-won't let you hurt them."

"Very brave of you." The bandaged genin said, "But you have no choice. We out number you three to one and you're already half dead."

"Stop talking and kill her already Dosu!" Zaku yelled from the ground.

"It's your own damn fault Zaku." The girl said, "If you weren't so damn bloodthirsty all time Dosu would have killed them already, and we'd be done with this test like we're supposed to."

"Shut up Kin." Zaku whined.

Shaking his head at his teammates' bickering, the bandaged boy, Dosu, said, "Last chance."

"N-No.

"Fine." Dosu charged. To Hinata's trained eyes his form appeared sloppy, and he clearly favored his right arm in combat. So when he feinted with his left before swinging with his right, Hinata was ready for it. She easily dodged out of the way, and countered with a Juken strike to his side.

"Not bad," Dosu grunted, "But you've already lost."

Hinata collapsed suddenly. She was fine for a moment after his punch sailed past but then she felt like someone had spent three minutes shaking her. "Wh-what did you d-do?" she managed to ask before she began throwing up.

Dosu patted the strange looking gauntlet he wore on his right arm, "This little beauty came straight from the labs of the Otokage himself. It takes noise and focuses it into a high pitched vibration that I can send straight into my opponents' ears with my chakra."

"Th-tahnk you for the time to c-catch my b-breath." Hinata stood shakily once more. "Your g-gauntlet is v-very impressive. It's a shame it's w-wasted on someone as w-weak as you."

"You should have killed her as soon as she fell over you moron!" Zaku complained while he stood up. "Damn it I can barely stand thanks to that bitch."

"If we work together this will be quick." Kin said before pulling several senbon from a pouch at her waist. They had bells at one end Hinata noticed.

Hinata didn't give her opponents a chance to attack. She leapt at Dosu who was the closest, with both arms raised. Dosu barley had time to raise his gauntleted arm to cover his face before her Juken strikes hit. She had intended to hit him in the eyes, a move that could have permanently blinded him had she been allowed to connect.

Before she could swing again two of Kin's senbon hit her in the shoulder. Everything blurred and she almost missed Dosu's next punch coming at her head. She managed to duck under it again but then the wave of sound smashed into her left ear and she almost collapsed again.

"Still standing?" Dosu asked, "Very Impressive, but I doubt you'll be able to do much taijutsu with both ears damaged."

Before Zaku could try to move past her and into the shelter of the tree, Hinata quickly performed the hand seals for her Suiton: Suiben and bound both Zaku and Dosu. It wouldn't hold them for long but it gave her enough time to attack Kin.

"Oh no you don't!" Kin threw three more of her senbon at Hinata. Everything blurred for Hinata again, but the pain of her broken ribs broke the genjutsu before it could really affect her.

Kin swung wildly at Hinata, Taijutsu wasn't something she was good at apparently. Hinata ducked under the punch and maneuvered around Kin. She stuck her left leg behind kin and smashed Kin in the face with her left elbow.

The move caused Kin to flip over Hinata's knee, and while she was airborne Hinata smashed kin in the solar plexus with a Juken strike.

Dosu was the first to break free of the Suiton: Suiben, he made a beeline for her unconscious teammates. Despite her broken ribs Hinata sprinted after him. She tripped him with a sliding tackle and tried to block his path once more.

"You're stubborn, I'll give you that much." Dosu grumbled as he stood back up.

Hinata attacked him with a flurry of Juken strikes, but she was wearing down. With each punch it became harder for her to breath and easier for Dosu to block her attacks with his gauntlet. Finally she left an opening big enough for him to land a vicious right hook.

Hinata crumpled under the combined force of Dosu's punch and the sound from his gauntlet. "Damn woman damaged my Melody Arm…" Dosu inspected the tiny hairline cracks Hinata's Juken strikes had left in the metal, "I better be able to get a new one when we get back to Oto."

Hinata tried to crawl after Dosu, but a kick from Zaku caught her in her ribs again. "Still alive? Good that means I can kill you myself." He stomped on her, causing her to scream in agony. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"You're sick Zaku." Kin managed to say in-between gasps for air. She was still too weak to stand, but at least the vomiting stopped.

"Do you know how much that move hurt? I'm going to take my time with her. I might even have a litt…"

Before he could finish his sentence Dosu came flying out of the tree, he smashed into Zaku and both of them collapsed in a heap.

Sasuke stepped out of the tree after Dosu. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated. The sweat from his fever-dreams still soaked his clothes, and he stared off into the middle distance. He wobbled with each step like a man on storm tossed ship. The black mark on his neck from Orochimaru's bite had spread across his neck in a pattern of flames.

Sasuke looked at Zaku and Dosu without really seeing them, "You…" He mumbled, "You killed them." Still not exactly looking at them Sasuke shuffled towards them. "You… Killed… Them…" despite his glazed expression murder shone clearly in his eyes. "Give me back my FAMILY!"

Sasuke sprang at the two standing sound-nin, "Carful!" Dosu warned as he stumbled out of the way of Sasuke's mad charge, "He's ridiculously strong."

Dosu tried to flank Sasuke, who was staring absentmindedly at Zaku. When Dosu got close enough to swing, Sasuke lashed out with a vicious back hand. Dosu had to block with his melody arm, and the force of the blow sent Dosu flying away again.

"Damn it…My arm…" Dosu said through grit teeth. Sasuke's blow had connected with the area Hinata had damaged. The force of it had shattered the gauntlet and embedded chunks of it in Dosu's arm. "I'll kill you for that!"

Zaku tried to blast Sasuke with his air technique, but a senbon from Kin hit him in the back and the Genjutsu threw his aim off. "Damnit Kin!" Zaku yelled, "I Almost had him! I'll kill you for that!"

"I'm sorry! I still can't see straight from that girl's punch!"

Zaku took aim once more, but Sasuke seemed to vanish and Zaku's shot went wide. "Damnit where'd he go?"

Zaku looked around for a moment, before he looked down and Sasuke's rising kick caught him in the chin and launched him in the air.

Sasuke turned his attention towards Kin who was struggling to escape. "Okaa-san?" he stumbled towards Kin, and grabbed her in a hug "I had a terrible dream. You were dead and Itachi killed everyone. I missed you so much." He buried his face in her shoulder and started to sob.

"I'm not your mother you freak get off of me!" Kin tried to push Sasuke off, but his grip was too strong.

"Just hold him there." Dosu said as he helped Zaku to his feet. "It'll make it easier to kill him."

Sasuke stood suddenly and spun around to face them, "I won't let you hurt Okaa-san!" He charged Dosu and punched him square in the nose. Dosu dropped like a felled tree.

Another senbon caught Zaku in the shoulder, "Damnit Kin, Stop helping me!"

Zaku tried to dodge Sasuke's punch, but whips made of water sprung from the ground and held in in place Just before Sasuke's blow connected Zaku caught a glimpse of Hinata behind Sasuke. Blood leaked from her ears and mouth, but she stared at him in grim determination, her hands held in the final seal for Suiton: Suiben.

Unable to dodge, Zaku caught the blow full in the chest. Hinata's whips broke under the force of the blow, if they hadn't Sasuke's fist would have gone straight through Zaku's chest.

Hinata could hear the sound of his ribs breaking from where she lay on the ground. She grinned with grim satisfaction, his kicks had broken a fourth rib, and cracked three more on her other side.

Dosu, who had been trying to crawl away from the fight froze in terror when Sasuke turned his crazed eyes back on him. "Dun't urd be…" he managed to say. His words came out garbled through his broken nose. "I'll do anyding you want."

"There's nothing you can do you monster." Sasuke said, apparently still believe that Dosu was responsible for the deaths of his family.

"Bonster? You da Bonster here."

"Sasuke, Come to mother." Kin said sweetly, "I have a present for you."

Sasuke's demeanor changed instantly he rushed to kin's side, "Yes Okaa-san?"

"Here," Kin handed him her team's earth scroll, "Give this to your friends over there"

"Kin what are you doing, you stupid bitch!"Zaku groaned from the floor.

"Okaa-san isn't stupid!" Sasuke kicked Zaku in the ribs, launching him into Dosu again.

"Okaa-san has some errands to run. You stay here and play with your friends and I'll be back soon."

"Kin, what are you doing?" Dosu hissed.

"Saving your sorry lives, that's what. Come on let's get out of here."

_**Meanwhile:**_

"One, two three dead bodies." Three Chunin exam assistant proctors had found the bodies at the edge of the Forest of death.

"What kind of ninjutsu does that?" The youngest member of the team looked ill.

"Come on we need to find Anko, this looks like trouble."


	39. XXXVIII: The Second Exam Part III

**XXXVIII: The Second Exam Part III**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death, One Month Nine Days ago:**_

After the sound–nin left Hinata was left with a still unconscious Naruto and a delirious Sasuke.

"C-come on Sasuke," She coughed. "We n-need to get to the tower."

"No…Okaa-san said to stay here."

"Sasuke! Naruto needs help!"

Her words seemed to wake Sasuke from whatever dream land he had been in. The black marks on his neck faded, leaving only the three tomoe shaped marks where Orochimaru bit him.

"I…What? I had the strangest dream. Where'd Orochimaru go…"

"Naruto's barely breathing we need, we need to." She was overwhelmed by a coughing fit and had to stop for a second. "We need to get to the tower and get help." Another coughing fit caused her to collapse.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke rushed to her side and helped her up, "Oh no… You're coughing up blood that can't be good."

"I'll be fine…" Hinata croaked, "As long as we get Naruto help I'll be fine."

Sasuke picked up Naruto and slung him over his shoulder, "Kami he's heavy for someone who eats nothing but ramen."

They were more than halfway to the tower from their pervious location, when Hinata collapsed, her breath coming in short sharp gasps."C…Can't…Bre…athe…"

"Come on Hinata we're almost there."

"G…o…with…out…me…"

"Don't be an idiot, that's Naruto's job." Sasuke set Naruto down on the ground. "I'll make a clone and have him carry you."

Sasuke made the hand seal for Kage Bunshin but instead of forming a clone, Sasuke felt a stabbing pain in his neck, where Orochimaru bit him.

"Ugh… what am I supposed to do now?" Both of his teammates were seriously injured, and Sasuke didn't have access to his chakra because of what the creepy snake bastard did to him.

After a moment to think Sasuke had an idea. He unsealed his tent from the storage seal Naruto gave him. He used it to fashion a litter for Hinata. After laying her on it, he tied Naruto to his back so he could have both hands free to pull Hinata.

The pace he was forced to move at was excruciatingly slow. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Hinata so he didn't want to jostle her too much. So he was forced to pull her along on the flattest path he could find and stamp down or move any obstruction from their path.

The tower was only a kilometer away when the grey haired and bespectacled form of Yakushi Kabuto launched himself from the under growth and tackled Sasuke to the ground.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Whew that was close." Kabuto ignored Sasuke's outburst. "Any closer and you'd have set off all the traps I've been building over here."

"Traps?

"Yeah, I don't like fighting, it's much easier to trap the area around the tower and get a scroll that way."

Sasuke stepped between his teammates and Kabuto. "So why stop us?" He said, "Do you think I'll hand over my scrolls to you without a fight?"

"No But your teammates aren't looking to good, and I was afraid they might die from the trap."

Sasuke chewed his lip nervously for a minute, "What type of scroll does your team need?"

"Earth, why?"

"If I give you an earth scroll will you help my teammates?"

"No, I'd do that even without the scroll. I'm a med-nin remember? But I will guide your team to the tower for that scroll. Sounds fair?"

"Yeah, now please help them, I have no idea what's wrong with them!"

"Not Here, Come with me to my team's camp it will be safer there."

Kabuto took Naruto from Sasuke, making the trip to Kabuto's camp easier on the dark haired boy.

"Kabuto what are you doing here?" One of Kabuto's teammates stepped out from behind a tree, "This is my area."

Kabuto held up the Scroll of Earth Sasuke had given him, "No need for those anymore. Go get Yoroi; I want you two to keep your eyes out while I tend to theses two's injuries."

The other genin seemed to notice Team Seven for the first time, "For the love of…" Kabuto's teammate face palmed. "Kabuto, why can't you be a normal ninja? Leave those three in the woods if you can't kill them."

"I'm a med-nin, You know that Misumi, Besides they're helping us pass."

"What do you mean?"

"Where do you think I got the Earth scroll from they had a spare."

"A spare?"

"We were done with the test maybe thirty minutes into it," Sasuke explained, "We were lucky a team with an earth scroll was nearby, we jumped them and ran for the tower. Oro… Someone really strong jumped us when we were half way there. We escaped but me and Naruto were hurt in the process, while we were recovering another team tried to attack us but we took their scroll and drove them off.

"I...See." the older Genin stared at Sasuke for a minute, "Fine I'll go get Yoroi, you can start your treatment Kabuto."

Kabuto set Naruto on the ground next to Hinata. After a quick examination of them both he said, "Hinata's in pretty bad condition. She's got seven broken ribs one of her lungs is punctured and the other is filling up with blood."

Kabuto unsealed a bag of medical supplies from a seal on his wristbands. "Half an hour more and she might have suffocated." He jabbed a needle into Hinata's chest and pulled air out of her lung cavity.

"The Puncture is easy enough to deal with." Kabuto performed a series of hand seal leaving his hands glowing with green medical chakra. "The blood in her long is a bit more difficult." He placed his hands on her ribs "Broken bones are hard to heal I can help speed up the process but it will take at least a week for them to be fully healed." As soon as Kabuto removed his hands from Hinata's side her breathing evened out and she began coughing weakly.

"What about Naruto?" Sasuke asked While Kabuto rolled Hinata onto her side.

"His condition seems stable enough now, but I have no idea what's wrong with him."

"Oro…The strong ninja we fought did something to Naruto's stomach, I didn't really see it I was fighting his sn… his teammates."

"I see… Kabuto lifted Naruto's shirt and took a closer look at Naruto's seal. "Crap, this is bad."

"What's wrong?" Sasuke noted the hint of panic in Kabuto's voice.

"The ninja you fought put a five point seal over Naruto's eight" When he noticed the confused look on Sasuke's face he clarified, "Odd numbered seals over even numbered seals completely cut off the chakra flow, not to mention it could break Naruto's seal and release the Kyuubi In a burst of energy that would level the entirety of this training area.".

"That's bad… Can you remove it?"

Kabuto scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I probably can, but I don't want to risk it."

"Uh…what happened?" Naruto moaned, "I fell like crap." Naruto suddenly sat upright, "where's Kurama?"

"Kurama?"

"The ninja we fought, "Sasuke hoped Naruto would get the hint and not say Orochimaru's name, "He put a five point on you."

Naruto jerked his shirt up to take a look. "That it? I can have this off in a jiffy…" Naruto tried to remove the seal, but he found his chakra was fluctuating too wildly to anything with. "Or not, the seal's messing with my control."

"Can you stand?" Kabuto asked.

"I think…" Naruto seemed to notice Kabuto for the first time, "Oh hey Kabuto, How'd you get here?"

"I walked."

"He found me trying to get you and Hinata to the tower, I'll explain later."

Naruto looked around, "Where is she?"

"Sleeping, it was a close call, but she'll be fine with a couple of day's rest."

"Come on Kabuto, You promised me you'd help get us to the tower." Sasuke, impatient to be done with the test, reminded Kabuto, "Let's go."

"I'll Carry Hinata for you." Kabuto said.

"No I got…" Naruto tried to say as he stood up. He collapsed before he was halfway up. "Damnit…"

"I'll carry Naruto." Sasuke slung Naruto over his shoulder. "What about your teammates are they going to come with us?"

"No, they'll want to stay here and try to snipe a couple of teams." Kabuto picked up the handles for Hinata's litter. "If we hurry we can be at the Tower in fifteen minutes."

Indeed ten minutes later and they were nearly there. They only had about a hundred yards to go when a team of Ame Genin jumped out of the undergrowth, blocking their path.

"AHA!" The leader shouted, "Finally found you! Give us back our earth scroll!"

"Yeah, and your Heaven scroll too!" one of his teammates shouted.

"You have got to be kidding me…"

_**Meanwhile:**_

Anko raced through the forest, She had recognized the jutsu that had removed the faces of the three Genin from Kusa. It always had been Orochimaru's favorite way of disguising himself.

She skidded to a stop ina small clearing, "OROCHIMARU!," She shouted, "I know you're here!"

Orochimaru stepped out from the tree he had been hiding behind, "Bravo, Anko-chan. You found me… That means it's your turn to hide now."

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, Next one's longer I promise. As to why I'm updating a day earlier than usual a storm knocked out the internet to a bunch of houses in the area I live and it won't be fixed until Sunday at the earliest. **

**Also, I need a beta reader who's willing to beta read all the chapters in my buffer (five or six) and then two chapters a week until I'm done with the story. It'll just be spelling and grammar correction so it shouldn't be too hard (I'd do it myself, but I really don't have the free time to write and edit two chapters a week.)**


	40. XXXIX: Changes

**XXXIX: Changes**

_**Konoha Forest of Death, One Month Nine Days ago:**_

"_You have got to be kidding me…"_

_**Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:**_

"Wait!" Tsunade shouted, "Don't switch back to the kids what happened to Anko?"

"I don't know, she didn't return from the forest."

"Then how do you know what she said? Or if she even found him?"

"I don't actually; it was a bit of conjecture actually. After the kids came back I went into the forest after her I found what looked like the sight of a fight, but knowing anko it could have just been really rough…"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Tsunade clocked Jiraiya over the head, "That's the last thing I want to think about thank you."

_**Konoha Forest of Death, One Month Nine Days ago:**_

Naruto sighed, "Put me down and kick their asses."

"These losers found us?" Sasuke grumbled, "Took them long enough."

"You cheated!" The third member of the Ame team shouted, "Dropping into the middle of us and grabbing the scroll isn't fair!"

"And now that we can see you, we'll beat the crap out of you!"

"I'm Sorry," Kabuto interrupted their ranting, "But I can't allow you to do that."

"What are you gonna do about it old man?"

"I do not wish to hurt you." Kabuto's tone was low and menacing, "But if you do not get out of our way I will be forced to."

"I heard you talking before the first exam!" The leader pointed at Kabuto, "This is your seventh test! I'm not afraid of someone so weak!"

"I didn't fail because I was weak." Kabuto said quietly before raising his arms and shifting his legs into an aggressive taijutsu stance, "I failed because I don't like fighting."

All three Ame ninja's shared a look. All three charged Kabuto at once. Kabuto moved like a snake. Each attack slid harmlessly past him and was met with a counter attack that left each ninja on the floor despite being a seemingly light tap.

"Huh. That was fast." Naruto observed, "Was that Juken? I thought you needed a Byakugan to use it effectively."

Kabuto shook his head sadly, "No, it's not Juken," He held the first to fingers of his right hand up towards the light, with the setting sun shining behind them Naruto and Sasuke could see a faint green shimmer, "It's a Chakra scalpel." Kabuto explained, "It's mainly used in field surgeries when you don't have your full kit, or to cut behind something without damaging what's in front of it."

"Wow that's cool!"

Kabuto's face darkened with anger, "No it's not! It's meant to save lives! Not cripple, or kill!"

"I''m sorry Kabuto…"

"No, I didn't mean to shout like that. It's just… I became a ninja to help people, I only know medical ninjutsu and I don't like having to use it to fight."

"Why don't you know more?"

"Like I said I wanted to help people, so I focused on becoming a med-nin as fast as I could. I kind of neglected my other studies…"

"Would you like to train with us after the exams?" Sasuke suggested, "You could teach us some medical justu, and we could show you some fighting moves."

Kabuto smiled, "Yeah, I would like that." He helped Sasuke pick Naruto up again, before picking up the litter, "Come on, let's get you three to the tower before something stupidly random happens again."

Fortunately for Team Seven the last few minutes of the way to the tower were completely uneventful. It had taken them just under ten hours to get there. After saying good bye to Kabuto at the entrance team seven entered the tower and found a small room with a poem carved on the far wall

_"If lacking Heaven, seek wisdom. Be prepared.__  
__If lacking Earth, run in the fields. Seek advantages.__  
__With both Heaven and Earth, danger becomes safety.__  
__These are the principles that guide a human._"

While Sasuke and Naruto sat trying to figure out the riddle Hinata woke up "Wh-where are we," She asked weakly.

"We made it to the tower with Kabuto's help," Sasuke filled her in on everything that happened while she was unconscious.

When they finished and Hinata had read the wall, she suggested, "Maybe we should open b-both of the sc-scrolls."

"Are you sure?"

"Well… Anko said not to open them before we got to the tower, and the riddle says danger becomes safety with both heaven and earth…"

With a shrug Sasuke said, "I guess you're right," Pulled both scrolls form his pockets and unsealed them. Almost immediately they began to smoke.

"Quick put them together, like this!" Naruto made an 'X' with his arms, "It's a summoning formula!"

As soon as Sasuke had them in the correct position there was a puff of smoke and Iruka emerged from it.

"Um…wow…" Iruka was nearly speechless, "Less than twelve hours… Normally that would be a rec…or…d" He suddenly noticed the condition Team Seven was in, "Kami! What happened to you three?"

"Get Jiraiya," Naruto said weakly, "Orochimaru put a five point seal on me and I can't remove it by myself."

"What? Orochimaru!" Iruka spun around and began to fiddle with the wall, a few seconds later a hidden door swung open, "Come quickly, Jiraiya's already inside waiting for you, I'll send a message to the Hokage while he takes care of you."

"You're late," Jiraiya said as soon as they entered his room. He had his back to them and was writing something on a desk in the far corner. "You should have been the first team through, not the third."

Jiraiya put his brush down and turned around. He jumped out of his chair when he saw how old and ragged Naruto looked, "Kami, what happened to you?"

Naruto gave him a quick summary of what happened, as soon as he said five point seal, Jiriaya interrupted him, "Are you sure? I've never seen that seal do something like this."

Naruto lifted his shirt, "See for yourself."

"Sloppy work," Jiraiya tsk'ed, "RELEASE!" He thrust his hand into Naruto's stomach and with a twist of his wrist he broke the seal.

Almost immediately the color returned to Naruto's skin and hair. **"KIT! KIT!"** Kurama's voice suddenly echoed loudly in Naruto's head.

'I'm Here.'

"**Whatever happened cut me off completely. It damaged the seal too."** The fox sounded relived to hear Naruto's voice again,

'What? How bad?'

"**Not too bad, but there's some cracks in the bars now. Be careful if it happens again it could shatter the seal."**

"Thanks Ero-Sennin, I feel a lot better now."

"Iruka will show you three to your rooms. You should settle in and get some rest." Jiraiya sat back down and began to fiddle with his brush.

"We're not leaving?" Sasuke asked.

"Not until the end of the fifth day. We need to know how many teams pass, if more than ten teams pass we'll need to do an … extra test to whittle the numbers down further."

"An extra test?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Well…more like a preliminary for test three," Jiraiya replied.

"Preliminary? Is the last test a tournament?" Sasuke, at least, was eager for a chance to see how strong he was in comparison to the other genin. "I hope Rock Lee makes it, I'd love to be able to really cut loose against him."

"Don't worry," Jiraiya reassured Hinata, who looked rather nervous, "As long as you give it your all you'll be fine."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the platitude, "Somehow I doubt that Ero-sennin, there's three, _three_, Jonin level ninja in the _chunin_ exam."

"Three?" Sasuke looked confused, "Zabuza yeah definitely, and maybe Haku but who's the third?"

"Fu. At least I'd think she is, she fought your brother for at least an hour during the attack on waterfall."

"She is? She didn't seem that strong when I fou…er…"

"You don't have to worry about Fu, She won't Use her Biju shroud. It is, after all, a state secret that she's a Jinchuriki."

"Oh…" Naruto looked worried, "Does that mean I shouldn't use mine?"

Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a moment, "Not unless you have to, to win. Enough people know where it can't be classified as S-rank anymore, although the injunction still stands I think." Jiraiya smiled," Besides I doubt you'll need it anyway."

Naruto shrugged, "If you say so Ero-Senin."

"I do, now go and get some rest; you three still look half dead."

"What about Orochimaru?" Naruto asked.

"We already knew he was planning something, now we know the where and the when." Jiraiya said "He's definitely long gone. The only question I have is what he wanted with you three."

"He said he wanted to give Sasuke something, But I got knocked out before the end of the fight."

Jiraiay turned expactently towards Sasuke, "Well, what happened?"

"He…um… He bit me?" Sasuke absentmindedly rubbed the spot where, Orochimaru bit him. "at first it really hurt, but it feels a lot better now."

"Let me see."

Sasuke pulled his collar back so Jiraiya, could see mark. Naruto peered closely at the strange triple Tomoe mark. "It kinda looks like a Sharin…" He trailed off in the middle of his sentence, "Hey Sasuke, Do you feel any different now?"

"Actually, it's starting to feel pretty good…"

"What's the matter Naruto?"

"That mark, I think it's a seal."

"It looks like Anko's," Jiraiya said, "She called it a Cursed Seal of Heaven. I never was able to figure out what he was trying to do, or how to get the damn thing off."

"It's pumping him full of chakra… but… I have no idea where it's coming from…"

Jiraiya leapt out of his chair" It can't be!" He took a closer look at the seal, "that sneaky bastard…"

"What'sgoing on?"

"I never even considered the possibility of it doing that." Jiraiya mumbled to himself, "That explains so much."

"Mind filling me in here, it's on _my_ neck…"

"The anger, the aggression the seemingly endless supply of chakra…" Jiraiya finally noticed Sasuke glaring at him, "Oh…well, Anko reported that whenever she let the seal activate in combat she felt like she would never run out of chakra. All Her teammates noticed was that she became increasingly violent and erratic under the effects of the sea. In the end it was deemed to dangerous and she was forbidden from using it.

"I tried to figure out how it worked but Orochimaru's seal work was uncharacteristically sloppy and I couldn't make heads or tails of It, Honestly I'm surprised it didn't explode.

"But if What Naruto said is true…" He pulled a magnifying glass out of a pocket and took a closer look at the seal, "I would say that's impossible…But the seal takes Nature Chakra

And forcibly converts it to normal chakra."

"Nature chakra? What's that?" Naruto had never heard of it before.

"Well there's two main types of chakra, Elemental and Natural. Nature chakra is produced by every living thing, It is _much_ stronger than the normal elemental chakra found in your bodies"

"How do you know that? Is it possible to use it?"

"Yes, but it takes years and years of practice to be able to gather the chakra without killing yourself, too little and it's useless, too much and you die... I myself cannot use it without help."

"So this seal lets me use it?"

"No as far as I can tell, now that I'm sure, what it does, Is transform Nature Chakra to Elemental. In theory you would never run out of chakra with a seal like that, but it's not complete."

"It's not?"

"There's nothing in the seal that would make you more violent like Anko's team reported. I think it doesn't fully transform all of the chakra, and some of it is stuck somewhere between Nature and Elemetnal type."

"Which explains why it's purple." Naruto said.

"Purple? What does chakra color have to do with anything?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well it's the only purple chakra I've seen before."

"Purple isn't that uncommon a color."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Well all I've ever seen are red, green, brown, dark blue and light blue."

"That's all? What about white? Kakashi's chakra is white."

"No it's not. Its Dark blue, light blue and brown."

"Next you'll be telling me that our chakra isn't blue."

"Ours?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, and made a Rasengan. "See blue, same color as you."

"But the chakra I see in you isn't blue, It's red and brown."

"What's the problem?" Sasuke interrupted, "Isn't it obvious he can see the elements you can use?"

Naruto did a quick mental calculation. "That can't be right." Naruto said, "I can see brown chakra inside me, but I don't have an earth affinity."

JIriaya frowned, "Take this," he pulled a piece of chakra paper out of his pocket and handed it to Naruto, "Use it."

With a shrug Naruto poured chakra into the paper. First it shredded, then it darkened, before crumpling up into little balls. "See no Earth affi…" Then the balls crumbled into dust.

"What just Happened?

**A/N: Yeah still no internet, sorry about the missed chapter on Wednesday (And this chapter being a day late) I appreciate all of the offers for beta reading, but until I have my internet back I'm going to have to wait to get back to you….Sorry :( **

**And in Manga news; if Sasuke becomes Hokage I will regret every second I spent readin NAruto and will probably never read anything Kishimoto writes again. I won't abandon the story but I probably will all of my interest in Canon Naruto. (On the bright side, the Konoha 12's reactions were hilarious, and Minato having the other half of the Kyuubi in him is a) not my plot (So yay no idea theft) and B) mildly interesting)**


	41. XL: The Forest Tower

**XL: The Forest Tower.**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death Tower, One Month Nine Days Ago:**_

"_What Just happened?"_ _Sasuke asked_.

"Is that even p-possible?"

"It shouldn't be," Jiraiya muttered with narrowed eyes. "There are only a handful of tri-elemental ninjas in the entire world. There's never been a ninja in history with four elemental affinities. I've only heard of a handful of ninja who've mastered a fourth element, much less someone gaining an extra affinity."

Naruto blinked several times, trying to overcome his shock, and then managed to ask, "Then what's happening to me?"

"Now isn't the time, Naruto. Besides, I'm still not sure. Just…don't tell anyone yet okay?"

Jiraiya wearily sat back down, "Now go, I need to send a message to the Hokage."

Iruka was waiting for them outside Jiraiya's room, "The rooms for the Genin are down this hall. So far, only Team Zabuza and the team from Suna are here. You have the next four and a half days to rest. An hour after the test is over, all teams will meet in the main chamber for further instructions."

Iruka opened a door before continuing, "These are you rooms. There are three individual bedrooms connected to a communal living area, as well as a private bathroom so you can shower without having to worry about another team trying to take you out."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said, grinning up at his old teacher, "Ramen after the test? My treat."

"Sure, Naruto."

As Team Seven entered their room, Naruto noticed that the doors where incredibly thick and had several locks and deadbolts on the inside. The main area had two couches and a reclining chair around a single coffee table in the center of the room. In the far corner was a small kitchenette, a single counter with a small sink and a single burner in it. Along the left wall were two bedrooms and the third was on the right next to the bathroom.

After they each had a chance to shower, they met in the living area.

"All right Fishcake, why did Orochimaru call you Namikaze?"

"I had hoped you had forgotten about that… I'm not really supposed to tell anyone…"

"That's the last name of the Yondaime…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "Now that I think about it you do look an awful lot like the pictures of him in our textbooks."

"It doesn't matter Sasuke, really."

Sasuke rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "In fact, I can't figure out how I didn't notice it before…" Sasuke squinted his eyes and observed Naruto like he was a stranger. "You're the Yondaime's son aren't you?"

"Fine, since you won't drop the subject," Naruto grumbled, "Yes, I am."

Sasuke pouted, looking rather miffed, "Why didn't you tell us? Don't you trust us?"

"It's an SS-rank secret, that's why."

"Aren't you going to say anything Hinata?" Sasuke turned to their teammate, who had been silent, the entire conversation.

Hinata shrugged, "I already kn-knew."

"WHAT?" Sasuke and Naruto shouted in unison.

"How did you find out?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke demanded, scowling.

"I f-followed you to the hill where J-Jiraiya gave you the s-summoning scroll," Hinata answered Naruto, nervously poking her fingers together, "I f-figured there was a reason he d-didn't tell anyone… I'm sorry Sasuke."

"Whatever…" Sasuke grumbled. "I understand, but I don't like being kept out of the loop." He pushed himself off the couch he had been reclining on. "I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning."

Naruto and Hinata said good night and went to their separate rooms. Naruto couldn't sleep, not with the effects of the five point seal still fresh in his mind. The way his body wouldn't -couldn't- respond to his commands, the feeling of decrepitness that had permeated his body and mind. It had been horrible and he was sure he would never forget that feeling of utter helplessness.

Two hours later, still unable to sleep, Naruto heard a faint rapping at his door. "A-are y-you aw-w-wake, N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah come in."

Hinata entered the room, still wearing her nightgown, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. "I c-couldn't sleep, I k-kept thinking a-about what happened in the woods." She sniffled, "You almost died again…"

"Yeah…I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, I really have to do something about that."

"B-But so did I…" Hinata started to cry softly, "I-it was so scary… You looked like you would d-d-die and there was n-nothing I c-could d-do about it…and th-then everything st-started to g-go black…" Hinata's sobs had become uncontrollable.

Naruto rushed over to her to pull her into a hug. "It's okay we're both fine now right?"

Hinata's sobs died down a little and she asked, "A-Are we…? What if something l-like that happens a-again?"

"Well, we'll just have to get stronger so it can't."

"C-can I st-stay here t-t-tonight?"

"Sure Hinata-chan, you can stay as long as you like."

"Th-Thank you." She sniffled. "I l-love you." She gave him a kiss, before leading him to the bed.

'This is heaven,' Naruto thought as he lay in bed with the Hinata's soft form snuggled into his chest. 'I really could get used to this…' Naruto thought as he listened to Hinata's soft, if a bit wheezy, breathing. 'We should do this more often, I wonder if I should buy my own place with the money from those missions…' Naruto thought before drifting off to sleep.

At seven in the morning, the door burst open and Jiraiya entered Naruto's room, "Naruto! I want to talk to you… about…something…" Jiraiya couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Hinata and Naruto cuddled together in the bed. "Oh-ho-ho! What do we have here?"

Jiraiya's noisy entrance woke both Naruto and Hinata. Hinata 'eeped,' yanked the covers over her head and fell off the bed. Naruto immediately pulled a dozen kunai from the pouch he kept under his pillow and began throwing them at Jiraiya, "GET OUT! You freaking pervert haven't you heard of knocking!"

Jiraiya effortlessly danced out of the way of each thrown kunai. "My wittle Naruto's all gwowed up!" He fake sobbed. "The apprentice has become the master and I have nothing left to teach him…"

Naruto leapt out of bed. "That's it," he growled, "You are so dead."

Giggling like the perverted old man he was, Jiraiya ran out of the room, "Chase me if you want, but I'd put some clothes on first! Running after a grown man in nothing but your boxers is going to send the wrong message!"

"Damn pervert…" Naruto grumbled while hastily pulling on his pants. "Are you okay Hinata-chan?"

Hinata was curled up on the floor with the blankets over her head, "I-Is he g-gone?" she asked, her voice muffled by the blankets. "I f-fell on my ribs…"

"Yeah, and if I catch him, he'll be gone for good."

"I-In that c-case," Hinata shakily stood up, "I'm g-going to get d-dressed." Hinata wobbled out of Naruto's room in her rumpled nightgown and into her own, clutching her side.

Naruto hastily finished pulling his shinobi sandals on and rushed out of the room after Jiraiya. He found him moments later whispering something in Iruka's ear that was making the poor man blush. When Iruka saw Naruto storming down the hall, he gave the blond two thumbs up.

"GAH! What are you telling him?!"

Jiraiya sprinted off, giggling madly, "Just the truth!" He ducked under a barrage of kunai, "Hey! Watch where you're throwing those!"

"Sorry! I missed! I was aiming for your fat head!"

"What's with all the noise?" Zabuza grumbled as he poked his head out of his door, "Can't a man get some sleep?"

"I'm gonna kill that stupid freaking pervert, that's what the noise is about!" Naruto shouted as they ran past.

Zabuza rolled his eyes at the antics. "Eh, Good luck with that." Zabuza shut his door with a snap.

Naruto sped up, trying to close the distance between him and Jiraiya, "EAT THIS!" Naruto formed a Rasengan the size of his head and swung himself at Jiraiya, thrusting the Rasengan out in front of him.

Jiraiya spun out of the way and the spinning ball of chakra smashed into the floor, leaving a good sized crater in the hallway. 'That would have hurt…' A bead of sweat trickled down Jiraiya's back, 'I think I might have pissed him off a _little_ too much…'

Taking advantage of Naruto's loss of momentum, Jiraiya leapt out of an open window and onto the side of the tower. Naruto sprinted after him again; he barely caught up in time to see Jiraiya jump through a window.

"Hold still so I can kill you damnit!" Naruto threw a handful of kunai at the fleeing Sannin.

There was an awkward silence in the sand siblings' room Kankuro and Temari ate their breakfast noiselessly, lest they disturb Gaara, who was quietly sipping his tea while staring out the window.

Suddenly, the window exploded and a large white haired man jumped into their room and half a dozen kunai sailed in after him.

"Hold still so I can kill you damnit!" An angry voice shouted from outside the tower.

The blond haired boy they had met at the entrance to the village leapt in after him, wearing only a pair of bright orange pants and ninja sandals. Temari felt her face heat up in a blush.

The white haired man jumped over Gaara, whose sand defense had been activated by the window shattering followed closely by the blond, who had formed a large spinning ball of chakra the size of his own head.

The white haired man slid under the table, narrowly avoiding the ball of chakra as the blond crashed into the spot the white haired man had been in moments before. Barely losing any momentum the blond launched himself over the table after the man.

The man formed his own, smaller, spinning ball thing and smashed it into the door, shattering it in one blow.

"Um…" Kankuro said as soon as the odd duo had left, "What just happened? Aren't those doors supposed to be unbreakable? Baki said they were unbreakable…"

"There are rocks in my food…" Temari sighed.

"Quiet, or I'll kill you."

"Of course, Gaara!" Kankuro replied.

"And make me a new tea-this one has sand in it…"

Half an hour later, Hinata was sitting, fully dressed, at their living area table when Sasuke woke up. "H-How'd you sleep Sasuke?"

"Terrible, the screaming kept me awake all night…"

"Sc-screaming?" Hinata felt herself blush.

"Sounded like some poor team was getting ripped to pieces outside the tower all night…"

Jiraiya walked in with Naruto slung over his shoulder, bound and gagged. "This is yours I think." He dropped Naruto in the chair next to Hinata. "How are you today? "

"St-stil a l-little sore…"

"Oooooh?" Jiraiya winked at Hinata, causing her blush to deepen.

Hinata glared at Jiraiya, "Y-Yes I have s-seven b-broken ribs… It hurts to just b-breath."

Jiraiya looked skeptical, "Well, tell me when he's feeling less homicidal so I can talk with him." Jiraiya winked at Hinata again, "Be safe…" He walked away, laughing at Hinata's tomato red face.

"What was that all about?"

"N-Nothing Sasuke, N-nothing at all."

_**Jiraiya's Camp' Present Day:**_

"Did they really…?"

"Did I say they did?"

"Well…no…"

"There's your answer. I don't know. I was just giving them a hard time." Jiraiya shrugged. "Definitely went a little too far though, the kid left craters throughout the entire tower…."

"So when did you get around to telling Naruto…"

"Not for a while, it took ages for him to calm down. Anyways, the next four and a half days were pretty uneventful, well, at least for them-Naruto booby trapped all the entrances to their room… that really made my week a week to never forget, no matter how hard I try."

_**Location: Unknown, Date: Unknown:**_

"M-my fault?" The man gasped, "You were on a rampage! What choice did I have?"

"**You could have let her do it,"** the beast growled, **"If you did none of this would ever have happened."**

"None of what? Why is the seal crumbling? Where is MY SON?"

The beast shrugged its massive shoulders and held up the object it had been cradling. **"Right here."**

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay I had no internet for the majority of the last month. That coupled with another bad case of writers block means my buffer hasn't even grown… it's like June never happened :( **

**Anyways I hope to return to my normal update schedule from here on out. No more delays I Promise! Well… I hope… possibly… probably not. More delays to come! Wait… why would I promise something stupid like that?**

**Beta'd by TheCookieMonster77**


	42. XLI: Preliminary Round STart!

**XLI: Preliminary Round Start!**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death Tower, One Month Four Days Ago:**_

A full ten teams passed the challenge: Teams Seven, Eight, and Nine, Team Guy, Team Zabuza, Kabuto's team, the Sand siblings team, the Oto team that attacked them in the woods, a team from Kumo and, surprisingly, the Ame team that tried to ambush them on their way to the tower.

All ten teams were gathered in the large circular room that was the tower's main hall. On the far wall stood the Jonin sensei for the teams that had passed, along with the Hokage and a ninja with dirty blonde hair and deep bags under his eyes.

"**There is another jinchūriki here, Naruto."**

'Who? Why didn't you sense them before?'

"**She's not taking the test,"** Kurama answered, **"She's the Jonin Sensei for the team from Kumo. She's the jinchūriki for the Nibi no Bakeneko."**

'The blonde woman?'

"**Yes. At least whatever's wrong with Shukaku isn't affecting ****Matatabi****."**

"Congratulations on making it this far," the Hokage praised the assembled genin. "Unfortunately the third test is a tournament that will be open to the public, and thirty contestants would be too much for even the most patient daimyo".

"My name *cough* is Gekkō Hayate *cough*. And I am the *cough* proctor for the third exam," the man with the dirty blond hair announced. "The preliminary round *cough* of the third exam will begin *cough* immediately."

"What?" one of the Ame-Nin shouted, "That ain't fair! We just got here! The other teams all got a chance to rest!"

"Then *cough* you should have *cough* finished earlier…" Hayate pulled a black cloth sack out of a pocket, "In the spirit *cough* of fairness each of you will take a number from the sack *cough*." Hayate gave the cloth sack a shake. "Line up single *cough* file and take a number. Do not *cough* show anyone your number."

"The rules are *cough* simple, the fight continues until one participant forfeits or is no longer deemed capable of combat. Please refrain from killing your *cough* opponent; doing so or continuing to attack after the match is over is *cough* grounds for immediate disqualification."

Once everyone took a number Hayate took another sack out of his pocket, "When I draw *cough* your number please enter the *cough* center ring of the arena." Hayate rummaged around the bag before pulling out a slip of paper, "Round one: Numbers twelve."

Zabuza and the outspoken Ame-nin entered the circle. "Begin!" Before the Genin could so much as take a step Zabuza had cleared the gap between them and smashed the genin across the room with the flat of his blade. "Winner, Momochi *cough* Zabuza."

"Round two: Numbers eleven," Hayate called out when the unconscious genin was dragged from the circle. The numbers belonged to Kabuto and a Kumo-nin.

Kabuto turned to the Hokage, "Sir… I don't wish…"

"You will do fine Kabuto. Besides you're one of the best med-nins in the village; if you hurt him I'm sure you can patch him back up after the match."

With a sigh Kabuto stepped in to the ring. "Begin!"

"Please forfeit," Kabuto said to his opponent, "I do not wish to hurt you."

"I ain't afraid of you." The dark skinned shinobi said, "My Jonin Sensei is Nii Yugito, the scariest woman in all Kumo." One of the blonde woman's eyebrows twitched dangerously at her students words.

"I see…" Kabuto pushed his glasses up, the light glinted dangerously off of them, "And I'm sorry…."

Before Kabuto finished his sentence the Kumo-nin threw a hand full of shuriken at Kabuto. Kabuto easily side stepped the attack, and quickly closed the distance, his hands flashing through a complex series of hand seals. The Kumo nin tried to grab him but he ducked under the his opponents outstretched arms.

Kabuto tapped his opponent over the heart, palm crackling. Immediately, the Kumo-nin dropped to one knee. "Surrender, it's easier that way," Kabuto insisted.

"N-never…" His opponent struggled back to his feet, "I don't know what you did but it ain't enough to stop me."

The kumo-nin tried to grapple with Kabuto again. Once more Kabuto seemed to slip through his grasp like water. This time, however, the foreign nin was ready for it-his initial lunge was a feint and he managed to catch Kabuto by the throat.

"Gotcha!" He picked Kabuto up and slammed him back down. "I'd tap out if I were you," he said with a vicious smirk, "It's…easier that way."

Kabuto reached out and tapped the Kumo-nin's arm in two places, causing his opponent's grasp to immediately go slack.

"Argh!" The Kumo-nin staggered backwards clutching his arm, "What the hell did you do?"

"I cut the tendons in your right arm." Kabuto said calmly, "If you surrender now I can repair them with no lasting damage. The longer the fight goes on the worse it will be for you."

"Like hell I'm gonna give up!"

"Unfortunate…" Kabuto charged the Kumo-nin with his arms out stretched, a faint green shimmer could be seen extending from the tips of his first two fingers. The Kumo-nin managed to twist away at the last second possible so that Kabuto's attack only grazed the bicep of his already injured arm.

The Kumo-nin seemed to get an idea out of it, and used his injured arm as a shield to block Kabuto's next three attacks.

"Time for a change of strategy I guess, too much more of this and I might accidently kill you…" Kabuto formed two balls of water, one in each hand, "I am sorry, this will hurt."

When the Kumo-nin tried to block the first attack with his injured arm, the water seemed to flow into his arm, with a yell of pain the Kumo-nin collapsed to his knees. Kabuto then slammed the second ball into his opponents face. Kabuto pulled his arms back and a stream of water flowed from one hand through his opponent into the other.

"Don't worry, despite the pain, this procedure is mostly harmless. In fact, it's quite beneficial," Kabuto reassured the struggling ninja. "Normally, this is only done under anesthesia, but let's see what impurities we can cleanse."

The water began to circulate and Kabuto's opponent began to scream and writhe in pain. "My, my… you eat far too much salt. I just saved you from having to deal with a kidney stone in a couple of months." Kabuto ejected a small dark ball from one of the swirling spheres of water.

"Oh, what's this? You have quite the rare blood type. I've almost run out and can't find a donor for the life of me." Thin streaks of red began to leak into the sphere of water in Kabuto's right hand. The Kumo-nin's body went rigid from the pain and his scream froze in his throat. "There that should be enough. Take a couple of blood pills and you'll be fine tomorrow." Kabuto carefully transferred the blood from the sphere into a vial.

"Um... winner *cough* Yakushi Kabuto."

"May I follow him to the medical area? I wish to ensure I've caused no permanent damage."

"You may go Kabuto." The Hokage said, "Congratulations I'm sure you'll make Chunin this year."

"Next *cough* match, Numbers nine."

Hinata nervously stepped into the ring and a moment later her cousin Neji followed. "Well, this isn't the place I'd have picked for this," Naruto whispered, just loud enough for Hinata to hear, "but kick his ass."

"Fate has decreed you shall lose, for I am your opponent."

"I d-don't believe in fate Neji-nii-san." Hinata assumed a defensive Juken stance, one normally reserved for long battles or superior foes, "N-nor do I b-believe that I will l-lose to you."

Neji brought his arms up into an aggressive Juken stance meant to deal with a single, much weaker enemy, "Then you are, perhaps, naïve, or… just stupid."

"Begin!"

As soon as Hayate gave the signal, Neji lashed out with a vicious strike aimed at her heart. Hinata deflected it with one hand; instead, it thudded into her collar bone. It was painful, but it didn't close a tenketsu nor would it impede her ability to fight.

"A lucky block," Neji scoffed, "let's get a little more serious, shall we?" Neji began a series of textbook perfect maneuvers, each executed in blinding speed and flowing perfectly from one move to the other.

Hinata parried them all-most of Neji's strikes went wide or were blocked by her arms. It was then that Neji noticed a strange stiffness to her movements. Before she had moved with a fluid grace, but would hesitate at the last second possible. Now, she didn't hesitate, but the fluid grace was gone-she fought like she was wearing tight restrictive clothing or…

"How dare you," Neji hissed in anger, "Do you think you can hold back and still beat me? You mock me!"

"No. Not mockery, Neji-nii-san. C-Consideration. I do not wish to hurt you."

"You call this consideration?" Neji bellowed as he stepped up the pace of his attacks, "You dare treat me, _me,_ like some novice you can hurt! You, who can't even see tenketsu!"

Hinata continued, now seemingly effortlessly, to parry Neji's attacks. "Yes Neji I _can_ h-hurt you. And that's the p-point. I don't want to." Hinata shook her head sadly, "Like it or not, Neji we are family. And I don't like hurting my family."

Neji's face twisted into a rictus of hate and anger, "The only family I had is dead! And it's all YOUR FAULT!" Neji upped his attacks again, this time to the level he had to use to fight Lee. But somehow, Hinata was able to keep pace with him.

"Neji…" Hinata spoke softly, "Who ever said I can't see tenketsu?" Her attack seemed to flow around his arm like water, catching Neji completely off guard. She caught him square in the shoulder and sealed the major tenketsu point located there.

"Th-That was a lucky strike!" Neji was mortified. Hinata had been the first to close a tenketsu point in this fight. It was impossible! She must be cheating somehow. He had heard rumors that the idiot blond was surprisingly good at Fuinjutsu; maybe it was a seal of some sort…

Hinata's second strike cut off his internal monologue, and the major tenketsu point in his other shoulder. And with that, he was suddenly on the defensive. "Not luck, Neji-nii-san. Hard earned experience."

Neji tried to fight back but she managed to block his every attack and _still_ keep up an offense that had him reeling.

"I…I don't believe it…" Rock Lee muttered, "Neji's losing…"

"She's so fast…" his teammate, Tenten, said.

Neji grit his teeth through the pain of having another tenketsu closed on his arms. "How are you doing it… there's no way you're this strong."

"Practice, Neji. I train for twelve hours a day, everyday" Another strike disabled the last tenketsu on Neji's left arm. "And half of that is just Juken." Hinata shut down two more of Neji's tenketsu on his right arm. "I'm my team's Taijutsu specialist." Neji was now down to three in his right arm-soon he wouldn't be able to fight back. "I have to be able to defend them in a fight."

By now, both of Neji's arms were sealed. "Are they so worthless that they had to have _you_ defend them?" Neji taunted. Despite the beating he was taking Neji refused to believe that this wasn't a trick of some sort.

Hinata's reaction caught him by surprise. She started to hit even _harder_. The amount of chakra she put into each individual strike became visible as a light lavender shimmer around her hands. In a flurry of blows she sealed five tenketsu on Neji's right leg. "_Never insult my teammates!_" she hissed.

Neji felt blood seeping out of the strikes she landed on his legs and he knew the fight was over unless he came up with something good. It was then that he noticed Hinata's wheezy breathing.

'Her ribs! She did all of this with broken ribs?' Neji was so shocked he almost let Hinata's next attack shut down his left leg as well.

Neji rolled out of the way of her attack. For the first time since the match began Neji was completely on the defensive. 'But not for long…' Neji thought.

He waited for an opening dodging her strikes as best he could with his injured leg. 'At last!' Neji crowed in his head; Hinata had left herself open with her last attack.

Neji curled his hand in to a fist and swung as hard as he could. Hinata tried to catch his fist but while she was clearly faster, he still had the strength advantage. His punch slammed into her side and there was a crunch as her damaged ribs cracked under the force of the blow.

Neji smirked victoriously and smashed into her other side. He laughed maliciously at the sound of her ribs shattering.

"That's Goken!" Rock lee exclaimed. "I didn't know Neji knew Goken!"

"Like I said," Neji gloated, while Hinata coughed up blood. "You were fated to lose." He punched her as hard as he could again, square in her broken ribs. She collapsed onto her hands and knees. Blood leaked from her mouth as she coughed weakly.

"Winner *cough*…"

Before Hayate could decide the match in Neji's favor. Hinata turned the ground under Neji to mud with Doton: Doryū Taiga. As Neji stumbled in the now swamp-like floor, water whips sprung out of the mud pit to hold him in place. Try as he might, Neji couldn't escape the Jutsu's grasp.

Hinata stood slowly, her breath coming in short, choking gasps. Hinata staggered towards him, her eyes smoldering with anger. Neji began struggling twice as hard to escape.

Hinata slowly reached him and lifted her hands to finish the fight.

'Come on! Come on!' Neji begged, trying to force his chakra pathways open again so he could escape.

Just before her hand touched his solar plexus, Neji managed to force his pathways open with the Jukenpo: Ichigekishin (Gentle Fist Art: One Body Blow).

The force of the blast launched Hinata into a wall. Neji ran towards her, madness and hate blazing behind his cold white eyes.

He reached her moments before Hinata could manage to stand. With his arms spread wide he began to spin. "Hakkeshō: Kaiten! (Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven)." A bubble of chakra formed around him and slammed Hinata into the wall. The whirling force of the chakra began to cut into her and crush her at the same time.

Neji only managed four rotations before his injured leg gave out. But it was enough-Hinata laid in the crater formed by the spinning bubble, her eyes wide and unfocused. The slight tremors of her chest were the only sign that she was still breathing.

"Winner, Hyuuga Neji." Hayate announced while Neji stood shakily to his feet. "Now someone *cough* get that girl to the medics."

Neji sprung towards Hinata, oblivious to everything but the girl who had so nearly beaten him. Murder illuminated his eyes like a burning fire. He aimed a double Juken strike straight at her eyes. Centimeters before his blow could connect there was a ringing of steel on steel and the hands of two different people grabbed his wrists and prevented him from killing her.

Hatake Kakashi and Gekkō Hayate had each caught hold of a wrist with one hand. The ringing of steel on steel came from them simultaneously blocking Naruto's Uzu no Tsubasa. Kakashi's and Hayate's weapons were slowly buckling under the strain of blocking Naruto's attack.

"Both of you will stop immediately or *cough* face disqualification."

With a resigned sigh, Neji stopped his struggle and turned to leave. Neji's apparent resignation let Hayate and Kakashi to push Naruto back momentarily, before the Uzu no Tsubasa could destroy Hayate's sword and Kakashi's kunai.

In the moments between the two jonin stopping Naruto and their weapons breaking, Neji spun around and tried to attack Hinata again. Before he could strike, an orange and black ball of rage slammed into his side.

"I WILL KIIII_III__**IIIILLLLLLLL**__**YOOOOUUUUU**_!" Naruto roared as thick balls of red chakra began to quickly coalesce into his Bijuu shroud. Naruto tried to claw Neji's eyes out with his rapidly elongating fingernails, but Jiraiya grabbed him by the chest and pulled him off of the dark haired boy.

"Calm Down Naruto! She'll be Fine!" Indeed, Kabuto and three other Med-nins had rushed out of the medical area when they heard the commotion and already Hinata's condition seemed to have improved, "If you keep it up you'll be disqualified!"

Naruto ceased his struggling and glared at Neji. "Don't get eliminated before I get to you, you bastard. I'm going to pay you back triple for what you did to Hinata. And Kami help you if she doesn't make it-I will tear you into pieces so small they'll need a _magnifying glass_ to find you!"

"There was nothing she could do to stop me," Neji gloated, "She should have accepted her fate, and so should you."

**A/N: So… I forgot but apparently my story's a year old now… and eight months of that was spent on Hiatus… so does it even count?**

**Anyways, to celebrate this illustrious occasion: STATS! STATS FOR EVERYONE. Except for you, No not you, the other one. You, Yes you. We hate you, so no stats for you.**

**Reviews: 452**

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**Minds blown: 11**

**Hey, fellow people of authoryness and stuff, mind telling me how the story is doing? I have nothing to compare my story with.**


	43. XLII: Prelimary Round Part II

**XLII: Preliminary Round Part II**

_**Konoha, Forest of Death Tower, One Month Four Days Ago:**_

Naruto missed the next three matches. He had followed Hinata into the medical area and refused to be moved from her side while Kabuto and his fellow med-nins tried to save her.

From what he could hear, Tenten had lost to Temari, Kankuro had crushed one of Kabuto's teammates, and Kiba had been soundly beaten by Lee. Shikamaru versus an Ame-nin had just been called.

Kabuto put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'm afraid we're going to have to operate," he said sadly. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I promise that she'll be okay," he quickly reassured Naruto when he saw his forlorn look, "She shouldn't even have any scars from the operation when we're done."

"Please Kabuto, please let me stay."

"I'm sorry, but you're very presence could distract one of us enough to make a mistake that would leave her worse off than when we started. Go watch the matches. Your turn should be coming up soon anyway."

"How's she doing?" Sasuke asked when Naruto reentered the tournament room.

"They have to remove the bone shards from her lungs," Naruto reported despondently, "I wanted to stay but Kabuto said I'd be a distraction…"

"Well, Fishcake, that much safety orange could distract anyone," Sasuke retorted, trying to lighten his friend's mood.

"Not now Sasuke…" Naruto snapped. Naruto's shoulders sagged and he sighed, "Sorry Sasuke. It's just…"

Sasuke put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder, while in the background Shikamaru knocked his opponent out with a clever use of his Kagemane no Jutsu and a wall. "It's okay I understand. I'm worried too."

"Winner: Nara Shikamaru! *cough*"

Naruto watched disinterestedly as Haku and Kin's number was called. Haku took it easy, trying to get a feel for the Oto-nin's style. At first, she easily knocked the other girl's senbon needles out of the air with her own. Then, Kin threw a handful of senbon at Haku so that half were in the shadow of the one in front of it.

Haku almost didn't notice in time. She managed to knock most of Kin's attack out of the air, but was forced to sidestep the three that made it through. They made a strange jingling sound when they struck the wall behind her, and Haku noticed for the first time that Kin's Senbon had bells attached to the end of them.

Haku's next attack went wide, and she suddenly felt as if she was on the deck of a ship in storm.

"Ha! Too easy," Kin boasted, while pulling on the ninja wire connected to her bells, making them ring again, "A little sound based Genjutsu and you've as good as lost!"

"Sound?" Haku pondered as she tilted her head, "Well it's easy enough to fight without being able to hear." She plugged her ears with her fingers.

"How do you plan on fighting me with your hands covering your ears? What, can you throw senbon with your toes or something?"

Haku shook her head and pulled her fingers out of her ears, leaving behind a cap of ice over her earholes. "WHAT? SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"Oh, a Kekkei Genkai…That's so not fair…"

"WHAT?" Haku threw a dozen senbon at Kin, who had to roll out of the way. "I STILL CAN'T HEAR YOU."

With her main attack negated, Kin was in a world of trouble. She managed to hold her ground for a couple of minutes before she realized that there was nothing she could do to beat the other brunette.

"All right, all right!" Kin said and she raised her arms over her head, "I surrender."

"Winner, Momochi Haku!"

Naruto didn't pay much attention to the next two matches. Shino blew off the arm off of one of the Oto-nins, Zaku, by filling the holes he used for his techniques with bugs.

Then, Dosu defeated Ino by dodging her Shintenshin no Jutsu and beating her senseless before her mind could return to her body.

The next number was called and Gaara of the sand siblings and The oldest member of the team from Kumo.

"Man, fighting such a little kid's gonna be dull…" The Kumo Genin grumbled. He was tall, dark skinned and had shaggy white hair that hung over one eye. "Sorry, But I'll make this quick."

As soon as Hayate gave the signal, the dark skinned Shinobi clapped his hands together a glowing white circle of chakra immediately surrounded his hands, "Ranton: Laser Circus!" (Storm Release: Laser Circus **A/N: Kumo techniques are in English in the manga**) Dozens of Bolts of lightning burst from the ring around the Kumo-nin's hands.

The first six impacted into a sand wall that sprang up between Gaara and the Kumo-nin, Then the bolts of lightning changed direction, flowing like water around Gaara's sand wall, but before any of the Lightning bolts could hit him more sand walls sprang up around him, completely enclosing Gaara in sand.

"Nice defense kid," The Kumo-nin said halfheartedly, "But is that all you've got?"

"No, now it's my turn." Gaara said from within his sand defenses, before launching a dozen spears made of sand from the sand walls that surrounded him. The Kumo-nin leapt out of the way but the spears curved after him. Six of the spears caught him in the back and pinned him to a wall.

"DARUI!" his Jonin instructor shouted in shock and horror.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" one of his teammates shouted, "MURDERER!"

"I wanted to see how fast he was," Gaara said disinterestedly, "He should have dodged faster."

"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara." Hayate coughed, "Next time, be more careful with your opponents."

"Next time don't give me someone who's so weak."

"I'll help take him to the medical area," Naruto volunteered.

"Why the medical area? Shouldn't you be taking him to the morgue?" The boy's sensei asked. Her voice sounded hollow, like something had broken inside her.

"Konoha has the best medical ninja's in the world, I'm sure they can help him."

"It'll take a miracle to help Darui now…" She said sadly, but she followed Naruto and the other med-nin outside despite her gloom.

"Ah, Naruto, perfect timing." Kabuto looked exhausted-his skin had gone ashen and his face was shiny with sweat. "We just finished Hinata's operation. She should make a full recovery in about a month."

Naruto beamed at the news, "That's great Kabuto! I knew you could do it!"

Kabuto blushed at the praise, "It was nothing Naruto, Now tell me why you brought me a de…"

Naruto cut in, "If we hurry I'm sure you can save him." With his back turned to Nii Yugito, Naruto ended his sentence with a wink.

"Er…Sure, let's see what we can do." Naruto and Kabuto carried the body into a private operating area. "Now tell me, why exactly did you bring a dead guy to the medical

area instead of a morgue?" Kabuto whispered so that Yugito couldn't hear.

"Well… I wanted to try something. I've done it before but I don't really get much chance to practice it…"

"Well… If you need a dead body to do whatever it is you want to do I can see what the problem is. Just… don't make a mess."

"I won't. Just…get ready to catch me when I fall over okay?" Naruto's eyes began to glow with a soft silver light as he activated the third ability his eyes possessed.

"**Kit, ****u****se my chakra****,****"** Kurama said, **"It should prevent you from passing out like last time."**

Naruto gave Kurama a mental nod and began to pull on Kurama's chakra, and the light took on a blood red tint. "Here goes nothing," he whispered.

Naruto placed his hands over the Kumo-nin, Darui, and the silver red light began to seep out of his palms and into Darui's puckered wounds. Almost immediately the wounds began to close.

"I-Incredible…" Kabuto whispered in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

Within seconds of the wounds closing, Darui jerked himself upright and took a deep, panic stricken breath, like a drowning man who's head as finally broke the surface. "I… I'm alive?" He twisted around, trying to see and feel where the sand spears had pierced him.

"Yes, it was a close run thing, but you made it," Kabuto explained

Hearing Darui's voice, Yugito burst into the private area, tears streaming down her face. "You're alive!" she screamed and rushed over to him and grabbed him in a tight hug, "You're alive. You're alive. You're alive!" She made a strange purring noise in the back of her throat while she rubbed her face against his.

"I'm surprised too," Darui murmured while trying to pry himself free of the slightly older woman.

Yugito let the blushing teen go. "I'm sorry," she blushed, realizing what she just did in front of two strange ninjas. "I'm glad I won't have to tell A I lost his favorite pupil…"

"We should leave," Kabuto said, "And let you have some time together. Besides," he gestured towards Naruto, "I do believe our teammates are about to fight each other."

Sasuke and Kabuto's teammate, Yoroi, stood face to face in the center of the room.

"Don't worry kid. It'll be over quickly."

Sasuke smirked, "I know. Don't worry, I'll do my best not to kill you."

"*cough* Begin!"

On Hayate's signal, Sasuke jumped back and spat a sealless Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu at Yoroi. The older Konoha shinobi dodged the fireball easily, only to be struck by four shuriken and a kunai that Sasuke had thrown behind his fireball.

"Clever. But it will take more than a couple of shuriken to beat me," Yoroi boasted while pulling the kunai free from his shoulder. He threw it straight at Sasuke, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Shit! A kage bunshin?"

Yoroi spun around trying to find Sasuke. But he was too late; Sasuke caught him with a kick to the chin.

"That's my move!" Lee exclaimed, "How did he master it so quickly?"

When Sasuke's foot connected with the older genin's face, he felt a surge of chakra drain out of him. "What was that?"

"Chakra draining is my specialty," Yoroi claimed, "I'm so good I can keep almost half what I take from you."

"Is that true?" Naruto whispered to Kabuto, "I thought ten percent was the maximum."

"If you devote all your training to it, you probably could manage to go up to a quarter," Kabuto replied, "But Yoroi has been training that Jutsu for almost eight years, ever since the academy."

Sasuke ducked under a punch, Yoroi's fist just barely grazing Sasuke's hair. Despite only touching his hair, Sasuke felt more of his chakra draining away.

"Is that all you can do?" Yoroi taunted, "For a supposed genius, you're pretty weak."

Sasuke dodged Yoroi's next attack and spat another fireball at him.

Yoroi just laughed, "Yes, Yes, keeping wasting chakra, soon you'll be out and as defenseless as a kitten!"

When Sasuke ran low on chakra, the cursed seal Orochimaru placed on him began to itch and burn. Sasuke tried to net Yoroi with his wires, but the older ninja charged him in an attempt to drain more chakra, forcing Sasuke to drop his wire and dodge the larger ninja.

Suddenly the itching turned to excruciating pain and Sasuke dropped to his knees. "Out of chakra already?" Yoroi taunted, "I figured you'd last another three minutes."

Sasuke began to giggle as black flames spread across his skin. Shaking with laughter, Sasuke stood back up. "You have a funny face," Sasuke said with a manic grin, "Don't worry, I'll fix it for you."

Sasuke moved faster than anyone had ever seen him move before. In the space of a heartbeat he cleared the distance between them and uppercut Yoroi hard enough to launch the larger genin three feet into the air.

Sasuke sent him crashing back into the floor with a spinning kick. Yoroi tried to stand, but Sasuke's right hook sent him tumbling head over heels across the room. Yoroi hadn't stopped rolling when Sasuke kicked him back in the direction he had come from.

"I don't remember Sasuke being that fast," Kabuto frowned, as Sasuke began an impromptu game of soccer with Yoroi as the ball, "Or that crazy."

"Goal!" Sasuke shouted when Yoroi bounced off a wall

Naruto bit his bottom lip, "That's…something new, but don't worry, me and Ero-sennin can fix it…I hope."

Yoroi tried to crawl away while Sasuke did a victory lap for his 'goal' but when Sasuke came back for 'the second half' Yoroi threw up his hands and screamed, "You win! You win! The game's already over! I surrender!"

Sasuke stopped mid kick, "Aw… but it was just starting to be fun." Sasuke moaned while the black flames shrunk back into the seal.

"Winner, Uchiha *cough* Sasuke." Hayate announced before pulling the next number from his bag. "Next match number *cough* Seven."

Naruto looked down at the paper in his hand, it was his turn now. Naruto stepped into the fighting area. He only had to wait a moment before his opponent stepped up to face him, with a wide, malevolent smile on her lips.

"Uzumaki Naruto versus Haruno Sakura *cough* Begin!"

**A/N So… Tobito's going to be the Juubi's Jinchuriki… sigh… and that's an interesting new 'fact' about Hirashin, that jutsu is seriously OP, I doubt I'll use the whole Hirashin seals last forever thing in my story, but we'll see.**


	44. XLIII: Preliminary Round End

**XLIII: Preliminary Round End**

_**Konoha Forest of Death Tower: One month Four Days ago:**_

"You're going to die," Sakura said calmly, though the fires of madness burned behind her eyes. "I know killing you won't bring them back but I need to do it anyway."

"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents Sakura, but I nev…"

"YOU KILLED THEM!" she screamed as she began a series of hand seals for a jutsu he didn't recognize. "You're going to _suffer_ before I kill you!"

As soon as she began Naruto charged her, intending to end the fight in one, hopefully painless blow. He got three steps before something grabbed his legs. Naruto looked down-the floor seemed to be covered in a thick dark smoke, seemingly made of shadows. The smoke had condensed around his legs to form a skeletal hand.

"GAH!" Naruto kicked against the grasp of the smoke hand, but instead of breaking its grip the kick pulled a creature, made of the same shadowy smoke as its hand, out of the ground.

Naruto took an involuntary step back at the sight of the creature. "What the hell is that?" he demanded.

Sakura and the rest of the room seemed to fade from sight and she said, "Your doom, Uzumaki." Ten hands shot out of the smoke and grabbed him. Naruto yanked himself free, pulling a little under a dozen of the smokey wraiths out of the ground.

They circled him making strange chittering sounds that set his teeth on edge. Without warning, the first wraith leapt at Naruto. Naruto easily sidestepped the creature's lunge but another of the ten dug its claws into his back.

The blow didn't seem to do any physical damage but left a sensation of freezing cold in its wake. Naruto shuddered as he sidestepped another one of the shadows' blows. He countered it with a half hearted punch, half expecting his fist to pass harmlessly through the creature's chest. Instead there was a crunch and he felt his arm impale the creature's rib cage.

The smokey form of the wraith fell away, revealing a pretty oval face with shoulder length blue-black hair and pure white eyes. "Wh…why…?" Hinata croaked, still impaled on Naruto's arm.

"I…I…" Naruto staggered backwards, pulling his arm free of Hinata's chest as he did. "I didn't…"

Hinata crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from her chest, "m…monster…" she stammered before her eyes glazed over.

"No! No… no… no…" Naruto staggered away from the motionless body of his girlfriend, and straight into the arms of another wraith. When he felt the icy grip of the wraith bite into his arm he reflexively pulled back. His fist drove into another wraith's head with a sickening crunch.

"Uuuuuuggggghhhhh." The smoke dissipated, revealing Sasuke with the entire bottom half of his face ripped away by Naruto's blow.

Kakashi watched Naruto flail around, fighting enemies who weren't there. He had recognized the Genjutsus Sakura used on Naruto, and wasn't happy that a genin knew such strong techniques. Kakashi glared at Kurenai. "Those are some nasty Genjutsu you taught her," he growled.

Kurenai watched the fight with wide eyes, "I only taught her the binding jutsu she used in the beginning. I would never teach a twelve year old a Genin a Genjutsu used for physiological torture!" Kurenai huffed, "Especially since she apparently planned on using it against a fellow leaf shinobi."

Naruto sunk to his knees sobbing-around him laid the mangled bodies of ten of the most important people in his world: Hinata, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Kakashi, the Hokage, Haku, Iruka, Shikamaru, Choji, and Zabuza; his friends, his family.

"Look what you've done," Sakura's voice echoed around him. The darkness that had filled the room fell away. They were on top of the Hokage monument, and below them Konoha burned. "You did this," Sakura growled, "Everywhere you go death and destruction follows. You're a menace, a danger to society. And I'm going to kill you."

"That's a forbidden Jutsu, Kurenai," Kakashi said through gritted teeth as Sakura began another Genjutsu, "If you didn't teach it to her, who did?"

"I …I don't know," Kurenai said, her red eyes filled with worry, both for her pupil and the blonde jinchūriki she was fighting.

Back inside the illusion, the corpses of his friends rose shakily to their feet. "_…ill… him…. kill… the monster… kill__,__"_ they moaned in unison.

"Monster," Sakura's voice echoed, "The world will be rid of you once and for all today."

Sakura stalked toward her opponent who was kneeling on the ground, tears pouring down the sides of his face. Sakura licked her lips and pulled a kunai from her pouch. "Are you ready to die monster?" she whispered into Naruto's ear.

"…t a monster," Naruto hissed.

Sakura glared at him, "What was that?"

"…Not a monster," Naruto said a little louder this time, "I'm not a monster…I'm not a Monster…" Naruto repeated, each time a little louder than the last,"I'M NOTA** MONSTER**" Naruto's voice dropped a full octave, "**I'M NOT A**_** MONSTER**__**!**_" He roared as his fingernails lengthened, his whisker-marks thickened and his eyes became bloody purple color.

"**RAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGH!"** Red chakra erupted around Naruto in the shape of a three tailed fox. The shroud quickly grew opaque as a fourth and then a fifth tail sprouted. **"RAAAUUUGGGHHH!"** Naruto roared again while a fox skull formed around his head and a spine materialized along his back. With another roar, he back handed Sakura and sent her crashing into a wall.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion; the Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi leapt towards Naruto. Naruto turned his head towards the far wall and unleashed a blast of chakra that vaporized it. Before Jiraiya and the others were halfway across the room, Naruto had run through the whole in the wall and out into the forest.

"I'm going after him!" Jiraiya and Kakashi shouted in unison before sprinting after the fleeing Jinchūriki.

"Everyone stay calm," the Hokage ordered, "Jiraiya and Kakashi have everything under control. We will continue with the preliminaries." He gestured towards Hayate, "Please continue."

"Um… Winner *cough* Uzumaki Naruto?" Hayate ventured, while checking on Sakura. "She *cough* should be fine if she gets immediate medical attention."

While following Naruto was easy, due to the fact that he ran in a straight line and didn't let little things like trees and boulders force him to change his course, keeping up with an enraged jinchūriki was incredibly difficult, especially with the amount of wreckage Naruto had left in his wake.

"Just how fast is he?" Jiraiya puffed as they scrambled over the shattered remains of a large tree.

"I've never tried to race him when he's got that Chakra shroud thing," Kakashi replied.

"Come on, we've got to get to him before he goes all the way to nine tails," Jiraiya urged, "If that happens…. "

"The seal will break and Naruto…"

"Will die."

**Naruto's Mindscape:**

Here, Naruto was seven again; lost, alone, and frightened; curled into a little ball as the water rose. "_'m n't a m'nster 'm n't a m'nster__,_" he sobbed.

"**Come on!"** Kurama growled. Naruto was just out of his reach on the other side of the seal.

"**Stupid brat,"** the fox growled,** "It was just a genjutsu."** The fox felt more of his energy drain away, **"Crap. Six Tails now…"**

If he could just get more of his arm out of the cage…Kurama growled and threw his weight against a particularly weak looking section of the bars. He had to be careful; a damaged section wouldn't kill Naruto, but if he broke the seal itself…

Kurama growled and threw his weight against the bars again and again, until three finally broke. The opening was enough for Kurama to squeeze his entire arm through and scoop Naruto up and pull him into the seal.

"**Hush kit. It was a Genjutsu, Just a Genjutsu. Your friends are fine. You're not a monster****,****"** Kurama murmured, trying to comfort his host.

Naruto slowly stopped crying and drifted off to sleep in Kurama's hands. **"No don't fall asle… Damn it Kit… Wake up!"** Kurama grumbled when Naruto fell asleep. **"You're body is still in the middle of its temper tantrum."** Kurama felt a little of his energy return as the sixth tail dissipated. ** "Well… That's a start I guess."**

_**Jiraiya's camp, Present day:**_

"We found him eventually," Jiraiya said. "The Brat ran halfway to the coast in a couple of hours."

"How'd you stop him?"

"We didn't Hime; we found him curled up on a boulder sleeping in the afternoon sun," Jiraiya grumbled.

"How many people made it out of the preliminary round, Jiraiya–sama?"

"Fifteen in total: Zabuza, Kabuto, Haku, Fu, Shikamaru, Shino, Dosu, Lee, the Sand Siblings, Neji, Sasuke, Naruto and Akimichi Choji."

"Isn't fifteen a little much?" Tsunade asked, "I thought the preliminaries would end when there were eight left."

"Naruto's…sudden exit kind of distracted everyone, Hime."

"I can see that, I guess. Well, what happened next?"

"That night Hayate was att…"

There was a blur and a pale boy wearing a shirt that left his entire midsection exposed shunshined into the camp. "Sai reporting, Jiraiya-sama." The boy dropped onto one knee and bowed his head. "Danzo is moving out with two assassination teams disguised as Iwa ANBU."

"Targets?"

"Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto and Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"Both teams have orders to kill?" Tsunade interjected, "I thought Danzo wanted Naruto alive?"

"Affirmative, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto has been moved from Priority: Capture to Priority: Eliminate," Sai answered, his even monotone betraying no sign of emotion. "Sarutobi Hiruzen has been deemed a failure as Hokage by Danzo for allowing Orochimaru to launch an attack against Konoha."

"Who's leading the teams?"

"Aburame Torune is leading the team targeting the Hokage, Jiraiya-sama. I do not know the name of the Lieutenant leading the team targeting the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, she is a recent addition to ROOT."

"What are we waiting for?" Shizune said, "We have to stop him!"

"Send a message to Kakashi, we'll try to stop them before they get to the hospital." With a nod, Sai shunshined away. "Let's go!"

_**Location: Unknown, Date: Unknown**_

"_Where is MY SON?"_

_The beast shrugged its massive shoulders and held up the object it had been cradling, __**"Right here."**_

The man gasped. In the beast's hands was a young boy that was about thirteen years old. His son, who he hadn't seen in Kami knows how many years was inside the seal. But that wasn't what scared the man. It was the giant gash extending from just below his solar plexus down to his left hip-someone had tried to bisect his son and had damned near succeeded.

"_NARUTO!"_

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter length. I'm honestly not very happy with the fight, but I had something in mind when I wrote it and anything else I added just didn't seem to mesh.**

**And now for some bad news, my laptop's fan died on me the other day and as it's currently the only thing I have to write with updates will be slowed to once a week. So what do you guys prefer, Wednesdays or Saturdays?**


	45. XLIV: ROOT Part I

**A/N Many thanks to SlytherinQueen020 for reminding me to post this chapter… I compoletely forgot.**

**Anyways, Canon!Sasuke is an idiot and an asshole isn't he?**

**XLIV: ROOT Part I**

_**Konoha, Present Day:**_

Jiraiya sprinted across the rooftops, followed closely by Shizune and Tsunade, who managed to keep up with Jiraiya, despite being several years out of practice.

"Do you still remember your way around the hospital Hime?" Jiraiya asked.

"Of course I do! Jiraiya, I designed the damn place."

"Good. Sensei's in room E457 and Naruto's in room A630. If they get past us, head to sensei's room. I'll protect Naruto."

"Those rooms are on opposite sides of the hospital. Why keep them so far apart?"

"To force the enemy to split up. If they're too close to each other it makes it easier for assassins to get them both."

"I see them." Shizune pointed at two groups of twenty shinobi wearing Iwagakure flak jackets and white porcelain masks under long black cloaks. "I can't believe they'd be so brazen about what they're doing…"

"They want to be seen," Jiraiya replied. "It'll make people hate Iwa more than ever if they kill the Hokage. Plus, it'll be that much easier for Danzo to declare war on them when he assumes the position of the Godaime Hokage."

The two ROOT teams split up, each heading towards opposite ends of the hospital. "They're splitting up," Tsunade pointed out, "Shizune and I will take care of the group heading towards Sensei's room. Can you take the other team by yourself?"

"The day I can't take twenty of that bandaged asshole's punks down by myself is the day I'm dead," Jiraiya growled. "Let's go."

Tsunade watched as Jiraiya leapt away and crashed into the middle of the group heading for Naruto, a Rasengan in each hand.

"Ready Tsunade-hime?" Shizune asked, a blood thirsty grin marring her normally serene face as she readied her senbon launcher.

"Yeah, after what Jiraiya told us… a little ROOT stomping sounds just like what we need." Tsunade cracked her knuckles, her own malevolent smirk a mirror for her disciple's.

Three ROOT members collapsed screaming after poisoned needles pierced their unprotected necks or eyes through the slits in their masks. Within seconds all three were dead.

It took them a moment to find Shizune, as senbon launchers had notoriously poor penetration at far distances. "There she is!" one of the ROOT-ANBU shouted. Shizune was across the street and five stories up, well out of normal Senbon range.

"How'd she hit us from all the way over there?"

Shizune raised her arm in the air and took careful aim. She pulled the cord on her launcher and sent a barrage of poisoned needles into the sky. "Oh crap, scatter!" a blank masked ROOT-nin swore before trying to dive out of the way. Half a dozen senbon caught him in his back, killing him almost instantly.

Three more ROOT shinobi were struck down before they could even make it across the street. "If you surrender now," one of the blank masked ninja said in an even monotone voice, "I will ensure that your death is quick and painless."

Shizune readied her senbon again. "And if I refuse?" she taunted.

The ninja's ANBU Cloak made an agitated buzz as he raised his arms, "Then we will be forced to subdue you and take you to our base for interrogation and... maybe…some fun as well." The leader took a step forward, drawing level with the building's exit to the roof.

"TOUCH HER AND DIE!" Tsunade leapt from her hiding place in the stairwell and swung her hand in a wild arc at the Root squad leader.

Her Taijutsu form had never been her strong point-after all her attacks were nigh unblockable and even a glancing blow from her chakra enhanced punched was likely to be fatal. But, after fifteen years of inactivity she was terribly out of practice. Instead of caving his head in, she clipped his shoulder and sent him flying into three of his subordinates.

"Tsunade of the Sannin." The leader buzzed in agitation, while slowly rising from the heap of tangled bodies. "Jiraiya was not supposed to return with you for another twenty five days, minimum."

"You must be Aburame Torune." Tsunade cracked her knuckles, a sadistic smirk twisting her face. "I'm looking forward to beating you lot black and… ow!" Tsunade yelped when she felt something bite her arm, "What the hell was that?" Large black splotches began to form on her skin.

"My kikaichu are incredibly venomous, Tsunade of the Sannin. You have less than three minutes before the poison kills you."

"Che," Tsunade tsked before quickly flipping through three hand seals. "That's all you got?" Her arm pulsed green and the dark splotches began to recede, "Please, poison is almost useless against a med-nin of my caliber."

A ROOT-ANBU leapt at Tsunade from behind, two Kunai raised over his head for an instant killing blow. Tsunade spun around while he was still in the air and back handed him in the chest. His ribs caved in with a sickening crunch and he was sent flying across the street and through the building on the other side.

Meanwhile, seven of the disguised ROOT-ANBU circled warily around Shizune, tantos and kunai held at the ready. Shizune was crouched in a knife fighter's stance with a poisoned Senbon in each hand.

"Careful," a ROOT –nin intoned, "The poison is almost instantly fatal. Disarm her, or force her to stab herself with them."

"What kind of poison user uses poisons they aren't immune to?" Shizune giggled and licked one of her Senbon in demonstration. She smirked and threw it at the ROOT-nin who had spoken, a new senbon appearing in her hands before the poisoned spike of metal had made it even half way to its target.

The enemy shinobi tried to leap out of the way, but Shizune's aim was deadly, the senbon impacting directly into his subclavian artery. Within seconds the man's body began to spasm as the poison killed him slowly rather than instantly. "Oops, I accidently lowered the dosage by licking the senbon…" Shizune shrugged. "Oh well, one down six more to go…"

Jiraiya's leap landed him on the back of a ROOT-nin in the middle of the second group. Without wasting a second, Jiraiya slammed a Rasengan into the two closest ninja. The spinning balls of chakra crushed their chests, killing them instantly. The follow-up explosion when the Rasengan detonated sent the closest flying away, as well as killing another two and dazing the rest.

One of the ROOT-nin drew the odd tipless tanto he had strapped to his back, shaked off his dizziness, and charged the Sannin. Jiraiya caught the Root-nin's wrist with his left hand and with a seemingly careless squeeze, he crushed the ninja's wrist, forcing him to drop his tanto. Jiraiya caught the blade and stabbed its owner in the throat; the flat, blunted end of the blade crushing the ROOT-nin's throat. Sensing movement behind him, Jiraiya spun around and hacked off the arm of another ROOT-nin who was trying to decapitate him from behind. He landed heavily on another one of the ROOT-nin, his steel shod geta all but severing the head of his downed opponent.

'Seven ANBU in five seconds,' Jiraiya thought smugly and scooped up a second discarded tanto off of the ground. 'Not bad for a warm up."

Jiraiya charged the closest group of ROOT-nin, a tanto in each hand. He was almost on top of them when he felt something grab his ankles and nearly tripped. Jiraiya looked down-a pair of skeletal hands had burst through the roof and caught him by his ankles.

'Genjutsu.' Jiriaya sighed before reversing the flow of his chakra to break the illusion. Chakra naturally flowed in a counter-clockwise loop from the chakra coils towards the extremities of the body and back again. Changing the direction of the flow was difficult and only really useful in breaking low to mid-level genjutsu. The skeletal hands flickered for a second before reforming. Jiriaya let his chakra return to normal. This time the hands didn't even flicker.

'Crap. They're good.'

Tsunade was down to three opponents. She had easily dispatched two more ROOT-ANBU and Aburame Torune had disappeared, although his kikaichu still clouded the air around her. After their primary means of attack had proved useless, the Aburame had resorted to the bugs' ability to drain chakra. Tsunade had countered them by filling the air around her with lightning chakra. While it was nowhere near as impressive as the Raikage's Raiton no Yori (Lightning Release Armor) and required copious amounts of concentration and control to prevent it from going haywire and draining all of her chakra and frying everything in a twenty foot radius, it zapped the bugs before they could get close enough to drain her.

The three remaining ROOT-ANBU had excellent teamwork and together they put up more of a fight than the rest of their squad had put together. As the fight went on, Tsunade found her taijutsu forms improving as her body began to remember the moves she hadn't used in fifteen years.

Two of the remaining ROOT-ANBU circled around her, trying to surround her in a pincher movement.

"Not happening." Tsunade charged the shinobi trying to circle towards her left side. She ducked under his partner's attack and caught her opponent with an uppercut to the solar plexus that left him on the floor writhing in agony and wheezing.

She dodged another attack by her sole visible opponent. She countered his attack with a full powered punch aimed directly at his chest.

At the last possible second, he dived out of the way, revealing his last teammate who had been using his ally's body as a screen to launch a surprise attack from behind.

Her punch caught him square in the face.

His head exploded like an overripe melon.

Tsunade's breath caught in her throat, her vision contorting at the sight of the red, red blood. She trembled as the spraying flecks covered her, the vile substance clinging to her. _There was blood everywhere._

Shizune was in excruciating pain. Her fight had started off well enough. She dispatched five ROOT-ANBU and was nearly done with her last opponent when Aburame Torune arrived. Unlike her master, Shizune wasn't able to completely flush the venomous kikaichu from her system.

"That was a most impressive display of strength," Torune said in his even monotone, watching Shizune finish the last ROOT-ANBU with a double senbon strike to the eyes. "However, you're going to have to come with me." He disappeared in a swirl of bugs and reappeared directly behind her. Shizune reacted too slowly, and Torune knocked her out with a chop to the back of the neck.

_**Naruto's Mindscape Present Day:**_

…_ar…_

Naruto drifted through the black of unconsciousness. He remembered the chunin exams… falling feathers? … a genjutsu…

…_to…_

Gaara going berserk… an invasion! … snatches of combat…

…_Nar…to…_

A blinding silver light, then… was he flying? And then power, more power than Naruto thought could exist, filling him like a raging inferno. Then came pain and with it darkness..

'_NARUTO!'_ Was someone calling his name?

There was the sound of chains rattling, echoing through a large empty room. Was he in prison?

'_NARUTO! Please wake up!'_ More shouting? Couldn't they see he was asleep?

"_**Kit. Rise."**_ Now the stupid fox was trying to wake him…

Naruto woke slowly, his entire left side felt like it was on fire. Above him was Kurama's blood red fur. 'So, I'm in the seal right now…what happened?'

Blinking wearily, Naruto looked around. The bars that made up the seal were badly damaged-barely half of them remained unbroken, and those were bulging outwards under the strain of holding Kurama…who was more than twice his usual size. 'What happened?'

On the other side of the bars, the sewer-like entrance was flooded and a great gash split the ceiling in half. A strange, otherworldly red light flowed through the gap and illuminated everything with an evil red glow.

But what really caught Naruto's eye was the blond man chained to the other side of the seal. Metal spikes dug deep into the man's flesh, drawing his whirling green chakra into the seal to reinforce it, preventing it from shattering under the strain of Kurama's increased size.

His rippled silver-purple eyes met a hauntingly familiar bright blue as the man caned his neck to see into the seal.

"Dad?"


	46. XLV: ROOT Part II

**A/N: Sill Aten't Dead! Sorry for the delay folks… computer still not working. It's a good thing I had this chapter beta'd or it'd be stuck inside my broken computer.**

**As for the manga I'm rather ambivalent, I hate the fact that the second hokage pulled the hirashin out of his ass, but it's nice to see Senjutsu be plot important again, I might incorporate it into my story at a later date, still not sure though. I am disappointed to see that the yin and yang halves of the Kyuubi seem to have different personalities, that I can guarantee is not going into my story.**

**XLV: ROOT Part II**

_**Konoha Present Day:**_

Jiraiya grunted, surging his chakra to break free of yet another immobilizing genjutsu his unseen assailant had thrown at him to slow him down, allowing the ROOT-ANBU he was fighting to dodge a strike from Jiraiya's tantos that should have bisected him.

"When I get my hands on whoever is using those genjutsu…" Jiraiya grumbled as he caught another ROOT-ANBU with his borrowed blades, decapitating him with a scissoring motion.

"All right, there's three of you bastards left, plus whatever coward's throwing genjutsu at me," Jiraiya grunted while breaking free of yet another genjutsu. "If you surrender now, you'll get the VIP prison treatment, three meals a day and all the prison showers you can stomach. If I have to try to capture you alive, I'm handing you straight to Ibiki and Anko."

The three ROOT-ANBU exchanged glances, obviously weighing their options. Before they could come to a decision, a fourth ROOT-ANBU materialized out of thin air. The new ROOT-ANBU was short, barely taller than Naruto, and skinny seeing as his arms were little more than twigs.

The tiny ROOT-ANBU was apparently the leader, judging by the commanding gestures he made. Strangely he didn't speak and instead used an auditory hallucination genjutsu to issue orders, directly to his subordinates.

"Well I take that as a 'no' then," Jiraiya sighed when the three ROOT-ANBU resumed their attack.

Tsunade fought her urge to hyperventilate at the sight of the blood that covered her. 'It's just blood,' She told herself. 'It's just blood, get up or you'll die…' She rose shakily to face her remaining opponent. 'There's just one left. You can freak out once he's dead.' She took a step forward, and slipped in the blood pooling from the headless corpse.

"I am most disappointed, Tsunade of the Sannin." Torune appeared in a swirl of insects. "I went through the trouble of capturing your apprentice only to find that you've defeated yourself before I even returned."

'Move!' Tsunade urged herself, but her homophobia was too strong and she began to hyperventilate.

"Kill her," Torune ordered his sole remaining subordinate. "She's too dangerous to allow her to live. We will interrogate her apprentice once we kill Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uzumaki Naruto."

'Move!' Tsunade ordered herself once more as the ROOT-ANBU approached her with his blade drawn. Once more she staggered to her feet. 'Move! Or they'll kill you, sensei and Shizune!' She took a shaky step forward and raised her arms into a fighting stance. She forced herself to take a deep steadying breath. 'MOVE! Or they'll kill the only family you have left!'

The ROOT-ANBU raised his tanto, intending to decapitate her. She took another shaky step forward.

The ROOT-ANBU swung.

And she backhanded him across the street and into another building.

Seeing his last subordinate dispatched, Torune swung his own blade down at Shizune. Tsunade screamed, and blood went everywhere.

Jiraiya broke the neck of the last ROOT-ANBU and turned to their diminutive leader. "You're out of minions to throw at me, kid. Now what?"

His answer came in the form of a barrage of kunai and shuriken, followed by the ROOT-ANBU drawing his tanto and charging Jiraiya.

Jiraiya caught the kunai and sidestepped the shuriken. "Nice try," Jiraiya sighed while flaring his chakra and spinning around, causing the ROOT in front of him to disappear and reappear behind him. "But, you'd have to be at Itachi's level for that trick to work on me. You're good but not that good kid."

The kid shrugged and threw another barrage of kunai and shuriken before chaining together a stream of immobilization and disorientation genjutsu.

When Jiraiya seemed to freeze in place from the barrage of genjutsu, the small ROOT-ANBU gave a mocking bow before turning around and running away.

He sprinted around a corner, and bounced off of Jiraiya. "You know," he drawled, pointing to his still immobilized form, "You're not the only one who knows that trick."

The ROOT-ANBU scrambled backwards on his hands and feet. His retreat was soon stopped by a wall.

"Looks like it's the end of the line for you, kid," Jiraiya said before whipping a handful of kunai at the ROOT-ANBU, nailing him to the wall by his clothes. "All right, let's see who you are." Jiraiya said as he reached for the shinobi's mask.

Then, the side of the hospital exploded. Jiraiya's eyes snapped towards the building. Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi were standing side by side in a smoking hole in the side of the building. Sasuke glanced towards his sensei, who nodded. A brilliant blue-white glow sprang up around Sasuke's chokutō, and the chirping of a thousand birds could be heard, even from where Jiraiya stood a hundred yards away. There was a blinding flash as he swung his sword down at something on a roof opposite him and a crescent of lightning chakra slammed into his target.

The ROOT-ANBU took Jiraiya's momentary distraction to pull free of the kunai pinning him down and sprint off down the street. Jiraiya turned around in time to see a long pink braid snap around a corner.

As Torune swung his tanto at Shizune, Tsunade charged, screaming at the top of her lungs, blood flying off of` her blood soaked body. Millimeters before his blow landed, Tsunade grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to her with one hand, while swinging her other hand up to backhand him. There was a loud pop, followed by a wet tearing sound as his arm was completely torn from its socket.

Torune choked back a scream, and landed in a crumpled heap. When Tsunade immediately began healing Shizune, the barely conscious ROOT-nin began to laugh. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, at least if you want to save Sarutobi and Uzumaki."

Tsunade whipped her head around and glared at the broken body of Torune. "What are you talking about?" she growled.

"You're already too late to save them," Torune coughed weakly, "Fuu's already take care of Sarutobi by now. If you hurry you might be able to save the Uzumaki, but you'd have to let your little apprentice die…" the dying man laughed darkly.

Then the hospital exploded. A giant jet of fire burst from one of the tenth story's window, completely demolishing the wall surrounding it and launching a dark figure through the air like a cannon ball.

The man crashed into the roof they were standing on, bounced twice and came to a rolling stop in the puddle of blood left by the ROOT-nin Tsunade decapitated.

The man was naked from the waist up. His chest was a network of second and third degree burns and several blackened shards of his once white anbu mask were fused to his face from the heat of the explosion. A few scraps of auburn hair remained on his head; the rest had been burned off.

"F-Fuu!" Torune cried out.

The burned man groaned piteously. Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke stepped up to the still smoking hole in the side of the building.

"Did we get him?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi shook his head, "He's still moving."

Fuu tried to stand, but collapsed and rolled on to his back. Fuu and Torune shared a look and nodded once. Both raised their hands in a half ram seal, "Killswitch engaged," they said in unison.

Sasuke looked at his sensei, but before he could ask his question Kakashi said, "Use it."

Sasuke channeled his chidori while Fuu and Torune continued speaking in unison, "Forgive me, for I have failed you Danzo-sama."

Sasuke held his glowing, chirping sword over his head, "Chidori Katana: Tsubame no kōtō!" (Soaring Swallow) he shouted as he swung his sword.

A thin arc of blue white chakra flew towards Fuu as he finished chanting, "Mission failure, Killswitch activate!" A black sealing formula burst from Fuu and Torune's mouth and began to rapidly spread across their bodies. The advance of Fuu's seal was halted by Sasuke's chakra blast, which sliced him in half from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Just as quickly as the seals formed, they retracted back inwards, crushing the bodies of the two ROOT-ANBU into a shower of gore. All that was left of them was Torune's severed arm and the lower half of Fuu.

Jiraiya skidded to a halt when he saw the gore covering the rooftop. "Kami Hime…" he whispered, "Remind me not to get on your bad side!"

"It wasn't me!" Tsunade half sobbed while she worked on Shizune, "It was some sort of seal that was inside their mouth!" She gave a hysteric chuckle, and pointed to Torune's severed arm. "Well that was me, but that," she pointed to the bisected remains of Fuu, "was them." She pointed to Kakashi and someone who she could only assume was Uchiha Sasuke.

Kakashi gave them a cheery wave and Sasuke just grunted and sheathed his sword, clearly tired from the move he used.

"So… no longer afraid of blood, Hime?"

Tsunade turned to stare at Jiraiya, her eyes wide on her blood splattered face and her breath coming in uneven gasps. "No… but if I didn't do something, Shizune, Sensei, Naruto, and I would have died." She gave another hysterical chuckle. "When this is over I think I'm going to go into shock."

Jiraiya knelt down next to the traumatized woman and pulled her into a hug. "It'll be alright Hime."

Tsunade stiffened from the contact at first, but slowly relaxed in Jiraiya's embrace, before burying her blood streaked face in her teammate's shoulder and sobbing.

When Tsunade's quiet sobs stopped and her breathing returned to normal, Jiraiya slowly reached down with one arm and pinched her ass.

Tsunade's reaction was immediate and violent. She buried her fist in Jiraiya's gut, sending him flying away. "GOD DAMN IT PERVERT!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!" She stalked towards the groaning Sannin and punted him in the ribs. "WAY TO RUIN THE MOMENT!"

"And there's the Hime I know," Jiraiya groaned as he sat up. "Oh the sacrifices I make to ensure my Hime's feeling alright."

"Sacrifices! You PINCHED MY BUTT!" she roared as she drew back her fist to sock Jiraiya again.

"Did you forget something Hime?" Jiraiya interrupted her. "You're covered in blood but you can still kick my ass, and look Shizune is waking up already… being covered in blood didn't stop you from healing her."

Tsunade blinked and looked down at her blood stained body. Strangely, instead of wanting to hyperventilate and crawl into a corner, all she wanted to do was take a shower, and punch Jiraiya in the face again. "I guess you're right…"

Just then Sasuke and Kakashi hopped onto the roof top and sauntered over to the two Sannin. "Are you the person Jiraiya went to get to heal the Hokage and Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

"Yes, I am Tsunade of the Sannin, Last of the Senju. And I'm here to heal my Sensei and your boyfriend," she said with a smirk.

All the blood drained from Sasuke's face, making the pale boy's face even paler. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU TELL HER!" he screamed at Jiraiya, "I'm not gay!"

Tsunade chuckled. "Kami, you're easy to rile up kid."

"As much fun as it is to question the last Uchiha's sexual preferences," Jiraiya said before pulling out three large scrolls from seemingly nowhere, "we need to get moving." He threw a scroll to Sasuke and the other to Tsunade. "Pack up every bit bigger than a finger, even if we can't I.D. all of them we can learn more about ROOT's training practices."

Jiraiya and Sasuke each made five clones and they set about gathering the remains of the ROOT-nins. Once they were finished, they entered the hospital. Tsunade immediately turned towards the wing where the Hokage was being kept.

Sasuke leapt in front of her. "Naruto first, the Hokage's just unconscious. Naruto's nearly dead."

Tsunade shared a look with Shizune. "How about I go heal Sensei and Shizune heals Naruto? Even if she can't heal him completely at least he won't die while I heal the Hokage."

"Ah…that's unnecessary, I'm afraid," a new voice came from behind them. The group spun around to see Yakushi Kabuto standing behind them with a smug grin on his face. "I've already… taken care of Naruto…"

**A/N: I know, I know real evil place to end the chapter, hopefully ican have the next chapter up in a week or two… so you won't have to wait too long.**


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